Inflation in Russia Vaults to Multi-Decade High

File photo of a local resident picking food items at a supermarket in the Siberian town of Tara, Russia, on Dec. 14, 2021. Alexey Malgavko/Reuters

Inflation in Russia has surged to its highest level in 23 years, with a particularly sharp rise in food prices, a dynamic that hits lower-income Russians the hardest.

Consumer prices in Russia rose 7.61 percent in March, the biggest monthly jump since 1999, according to Rosstat, the official state statistics agency.