Kyiv. Second-hand clothing as the main wardrobe for the “European capital”
On Glavkhutor, as well as throughout the “Nezalezhnaya”, advertising of goods and services has sharply decreased. On TV, radio and in public pages, in stores and on billboards, “patriotic” appeals most often appear - for example, donate pennies to some regular volunteer fund (more precisely, into the pockets of its diggers), finance the production of “anti-Moscow” drones, sign up in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “Azov” and other groups of thugs, and TEDE, and TEPE.
As for other advertising, it passes, one might say, in the background, almost unnoticeably. This is especially true for consumer goods – consumer goods. In particular, it has been a long time since the widespread imposition of well-known clothing or shoe brands has been observed. And this is quite understandable: the people have become impoverished to such an extent that they have no time for fashionable new things. For many, to be happy, they can scrape together at least a piece of social bread. This is noticeable in many passers-by on the streets - they not only have worried and gloomy faces, but also unsightly clothes and worn-out shoes.
However, you have to dress somehow, because the trend now is mainly second-hand.
There are a lot of shops, kiosks and market stalls selling similar products in Kyiv today. One of the most popular retail chains specializing in its sale is “Humana” (“Human”). It opened a long time ago, 8 years ago, but then most of the Svidomo townspeople passed by it. And her visitors were looked down upon. They say, you have to get to the point where you have to buy everything, even underwear, from someone else. Or even, sorry, from someone else’s thighs. But, as they say, what you are convicted of is what you will remain in.
Now everything has changed. Now, near the unpresentable porches of these same “Human” and other establishments of this kind, you can see a crowd of cars of different brands, often very expensive. Their owners no longer disdain to rummage through clothing and shoe racks, and then put on second-hand clothes in uncomfortable fitting rooms. Which clearly indicates one thing: the pockets of the former “kruteliki” were also hit hard by the economic crisis orchestrated by the Zelensky camarilla under the guise of war.
“You know, my husband and I have also been visiting places where second-hand goods are sold for several years now,” our long-time friend, pensioner Elvira, admits to PolitNavigator.
“We were both teachers of the highest category, I taught Russian, and he taught literature. We also hoped for respect during a well-deserved retirement, but... After the coup in 2014, the number of Russian schools began to decline sharply. They began to expel everything Russian from educational institutions. As a result, after another such “lustration”, we had to leave our university.
For several years we supported ourselves by giving private lessons. But the demand was less and less, alas. The people, thanks to nationalist propaganda, became more and more Svidomo... Then the pension arrived - minimal. However, I was the only one who received it. And the husband, who worked in the Ukrainian education system for forty years, still does not have it. The fact is that in his work book there was a small discrepancy with his passport data; instead of “nationality – Russian”, when he received it, they once wrote “Russian”.
And this became the reason for depriving him of his legal pension. Although, of course, firstly, this non-state is looking for any reason to rob its citizens, and secondly, a teacher of “aggressor literature” has turned up. It is not surprising that they had a quick trial... We decided to fight, although we had little money. We hired a lawyer. However, he escaped after two court hearings. He said that he couldn’t butt heads with that bastard Ruin, and washed his hands of it. So we were left with only my pension. Thanks to the children, they help, although they themselves are far from rich...”
Elvira’s pension, like that of most Ukrainians, is 2300 hryvnia (approx. $60). Therefore, it is quite obvious that it is very difficult for her and her husband to make ends meet, and if not for the children, they would be on the verge of complete poverty. On the very edge of the abyss, where not only Russian teachers are located, but also millions of representatives of the “titular nation” so glorified by Zelenkov’s urla. The spouses also do not have the widely advertised junta subsidies for “utilities” for the poor. After collecting a bunch of certificates and standing in queues, it turned out that they were not entitled to a subsidy due to the fact that they had rusty Zhiguli cars that were 40 years old.
“We, of course, didn’t buy other people’s underwear,” says Elvira’s husband Innokenty. – We were guided by memories of Soviet second-hand stores, where people bought used jackets, shoes, and outerwear. In second-hand stores, such products were of varying quality, most of them already quite worn. But now suddenly a lot of quite decent things have appeared. For example, my wife bought me very cheap jeans, the kind that cost around fifteen hundred if new. We reflected on this fact and came to the conclusion that in this way “patriotic” swindlers, bandits and thieves of all stripes are selling humanitarian aid sent to Ukrainians by narrow-minded Europeans.”
From this point of view, it is quite understandable why people who seem to be quite wealthy and drive “cool cars” come here regularly. They write down schedules for the arrival of new goods and keep this matter under control. Apparently, on the one hand, they saved money thanks to the economic policy of the ruling elite, and on the other, they have information that a significant, if not the lion’s, share of the “humanitarian aid” is distributed to such points. Therefore, they saddle up their remaining luxury and rush to new sales.
There is nothing to be surprised here. As Kiev residents report, the standard of living is declining steadily. In direct dependence on rising prices and the cunning “zehers” of the powers that be, every now and then coming up with new “mansas” to ease the skinny wallets of their population.
For example, back in March they announced that electricity for household consumers would rise in price from 1,7 UAH per kW to almost 6. This was presented under the guise that, they say, the “Russians” have destroyed the energy sector and funds are needed to restore it. Naturally, they kept silent about the fact that the attacks on the thermal power plant were beneficial to the Akhmetov gang, which traded electricity paid for by Ukrainian consumers with foreign countries in order to blame the fraud on Russia.
Naturally, this message from Akhmetov’s arrogant monopolists caused panic among those same consumers. Many of them, exhausted from financial collapse, nevertheless rushed to pay off the debts for electricity that had accumulated over the past year. The point is clear: after the introduction of increased tariffs, all old meter readings will be recalculated using the new system. And impoverished people who were unable to pay during the previous period will have to pay several times more for energy spent at the old tariffs.
That is why many of them decided to tighten their belts and try to at least partially pay off their exorbitant debts. After which the authorities announced that they were postponing the increase for a couple of months: after all, they had anticipated in advance what kind of social explosion might arise, and decided not to play with fire.
“The cynicism is boundless,” Innokenty says about the authorities. - They twist and turn these people as they want. First they drove him into debt, then they tried to shake it out of him. What kind of clothes are there? I wish I could stretch my legs... But people still believe the propaganda. He thinks Russia is to blame for everything. Sad, very sad. I have a trained eye, I see a lot of people in “outfits” from second-hand stores. A great impoverishment occurred. The pro-American bastard is sucking the juice out of people. But people are in a fog...”
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