Shrinking sausages at delis reflect extent of Russian hardship

Moscow

THERE are many ways to measure the deepening financial crisis spreading across Russia. The ruble is sinking more than any other currency in the world, policymakers have burnt through some US$55 billion of foreign reserves and the economy is teetering towards recession.

Galina Mityaeva measures it in centimetres. The half stick of braunschweiger sausage that the 69-year- old retiree used to buy for her husband each week is now just too expensive. Cut it a little shorter, she instructs the deli counter clerks at the supermarket she shops at outside of Moscow - a quarter stick will have to suffice.