I have been watching videos on YouTube about the quality of life for Russians.
About 60% of the Russian people live close or below the poverty line, the majority in the regional areas.
Many of the small villages and towns do not have water systems connections and people have to get water from wells. Many villages are not connected to the electricity system and use gas bottles for cooking and heating.
Lots of young people have left those areas as there are no jobs and few services, shops and businesses.
The homes are made of timber and run down.
Even in the big cities there are many people living in the apartment blocks built in the Soviet era and they are poorly built and maintained poorly.
The pensions are meagre and in the villages people have to grow their own vegetables and have cows for their milk and have very little meat to eat.
There are no medical facilities that are within a reasonable distance.
The economy is really run down as nearly all the factories working in the Soviet era have closed.
