NEWSWATCH Washington Post: “As energy prices drop, ordinary Russians are protesting”

… Once prosperous enough to afford expensive Moscow apartments, they are now staggering under an economic burden fueled by geopolitical conflict and the plummeting price of oil. * * * Russia’s foreign-policy adventures … in Ukraine … in Syria — have tied up state resources …. The drop in energy prices has drained government coffers and sent the ruble skidding …. Western sanctions are crimping banks. … after a tide of oil wealth during … Putin’s first decade in power lifted a new cadre into the middle class, their fortunes are quickly sinking. … protests are popping up around this vast nation … the number of Russians who think their country is on the right track plummeted from 64 percent in June to 45 percent in January … before rebounding slightly last month alongside energy prices. … another vote of no-confidence as pessimism takes hold ….

Click here for Washington Post: As energy prices drop, ordinary Russians are protesting.