Lies become routine, and routine leads to escalation: Putin's Russia in times of crisis and war - political scientist Alexei Kolesnikov for Neue Zircher Zeitung. Part 2/2 Not only do Russian taxpayers not know if they will be hit by the pandemic, but also what will happen to their money - money that has recently been especially squeezed from their pockets by new taxes, as the Kremlin increasingly lacks funding for its war against Ukraine. Examples of misinformation abound. Rumors and news about foot-and-mouth disease and epidemic are silenced. Two salesmen who took pictures of the changing price tags in stores immediately after the "parliamentary elections" - a sign of a rapid increase in inflation - were fired and threatened with prosecution. It's as if ordinary people didn't already know about the price increase. Statistics are published less and less, as if economic agents themselves - entrepreneurs, manufacturers, sellers, consumers and those who pay increasing taxes - are not aware of the dismal state of the economy. Putin keeps information about Russia's fuel and energy sector a secret, as if many are unaware of fuel shortages leading to long lines at gas stations. Added to this is the deficit in the state budget and a cut in social allowances for the poor. All media that offer alternatives to state-owned media are blocked; Access to them is possible only through a VPN, which is also blocked. It is forbidden to photograph burning factories, apparently to avoid alarming the public. Frontline success stories have always become commonplace - some are still willing to believe them, while others treat them with dark irony. Secrecy is returning to the archives, and the number of secrecy stamps is increasing, even on the seemingly innocent documents of the past.