This article was adapted from a post made by the anonymous Telegram channel t-ya. Because The Moscow Times is an "undesirable" organization under Russian law, Russian citizens are banned from cooperating with us.

I just bought a loaf of bread for a hundred rubles ($1.18). Nine of those rubles didn’t go to the shop, but to the budget, with which the Russian Kremlin does whatever it wants.

Living in Russia involves paying a long list of levies. VAT: 10% on food, 22% on everything else. Income tax starts at 13% and sometimes goes up to 35%. 

Then there’s property tax, car tax and a separate tax if you're self-employed. There are pension fees and then insurance contributions your employer pays because you exist. All those taxes feed into one budget. The same budget that funds the war.

Thus, when I pay taxes, I am paying for the war. When I buy bread, I am paying for the war. When I sell my services and pay the........

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