Russian food prices are soaring — but no one dares blame Putin and the war

A break-in at a small food store in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg wouldn't usually make headlines around the world, but this time was different.

CCTV footage from the store, Dairy Place, in early November appears to show the door being smashed and one person rushing over to empty the cash register. The other person makes a beeline for the fridge, plundering 20kg of butter from the chiller, Russian media reported.

The owner of the store said on Telegram that the heist showed butter was now like "gold," according to a Google translation. CNBC could not independently verify the footage.

Dairy Place is not the only victim of butter thefts, with a recent spate of similar incidents prompting some stores to lock the product in containers. A standard 200g stick of butter now costs around 200 rubles, or almost $2, with prices up 30% since December 2023, according to data from state statistics service Rosstat.

The theft of such a basic product has drawn attention to rampant price rises in Russia.

"The cost of basic foods has been growing for the last three years. It is getting worse day-by-day and sped up, especially this year," Stanislav, a Moscow resident, told CNBC.

"It depends on the type of food, of course. Some prices of goods go down, for example, buckwheat. It had a higher cost in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now it is three times lower. But this is the single example of a price decrease. All other food prices are growing. I think it is about 10%–40% per year," he added.

Russia's annual inflation rate came in at 8.5% in October, well above the central bank's target of 4%. It prompted the bank last month to raise interest rates to 21% — their highest level in over 20 years — and a further hike is expected in December.

High interest rates have shown few signs of dampening price growth so far, with food inflation in particular keenly felt by shoppers. Dairy products, sunflower oil and vegetables (especially potatoes, with prices up 74% since December last year) are among the items seeing ongoing upticks in price, according to weekly data from statistics service Rosstat, as demand outstrips supply.