Russia struggles to control poverty rates

(MENAFN) As the country extremely agonizes to survive a crippling and battering economic crisis, Russia's recession-hit economy has driven the nation's poverty level to a nine-year high.

Approximately 19.2 million Russians were living last year on less than USD139 a month, the minimum subsistence level determined by the Russian government in the fourth quarter.

More Russians have been dipping into poverty due to Western sanctions and low oil prices that have beaten the country's energy-dependent economy and considerably weakened buying power.

Swelling poverty signifies a setback for the Kremlin strongman, whose popularity had long been fuelled by the rising wealth of the Russian population as a result of high oil prices in the first decade of his presidency.