Poverty remains on the rise in Russia, The Moscow Times reports. 22.9 million people in Russia were living below the poverty line in the first quarter of 2015. 19.8 million were living below the poverty line in the first quarter of last year. Also, real wages are decreasing as inflation spikes. Wages in Russia were worth 14 percent less in May 2015 than in May 2014. Inflation hit a 13-year high of 16.9 percent earlier this year, and it stood at 15.3 percent in June. Rising inflation is largely to do with Moscow’s ban on many western food imports.