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AFP Published January 1, 2025 Reading time
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Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions

By
AFP Published
January 1, 2025

Despite a barrage of Western sanctions and swathes of brands quitting Russia after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, Moscow's most well-off shoppers are still spoilt for choice when it comes to luxury Western goods.

See catwalk

In the Russian capital's exclusive shopping quarters, department stores and high-end Russian outlets are doing a roaring trade in Western sports cars, gold jewellery and designer clothes.

The picture is a far cry from the West's claims that its sanctions would collapse the Russian economy and cut it off from the outside world.