the rationing of staples and shuttered stores.

After more than a month of fighting in Ukraine,

ordinary Russians have fewer options when they go shopping.

More than 600 foreign brands have announced their withdrawal

from Russia according to Yale University.

Some sided concerns about the conflict and the safety

of staff while others left as a U.S. and its allies

unleashed a raft of sanctions that could complicate

business operations in the country.

- Russia has been decoupled from the global economy

and all these goods and services that came into Russia

over the past years

and made Russia part of the modern world.

So the ripple effects of this are going to be massive.

- [Narrator] So here's how people in Russia

are dealing with the economic fallout and the glimpse

it offers into public sentiment about the war

across the border.

In the 1990s, as the former Soviet Union began

disintegrating, foreign brands started setting up shop

and many were immediately popular.

Fast forward about 30 years and with the war

across the border, hundreds of these companies

are temporarily curtailing operations

or pulling out entirely from Russia.

That's partly because running a business

under Western sanctions is getting difficult.

For instance, several Russian banks have been delisted

from the global financial messaging system

and that can make it trickier to carry out basic tasks

like importing supplies or paying employees.

Many of these brands are beloved by Russians.

On the day, IKEA announced that it was shutting

its 17 stores, there were long lines of people waiting

to do their last minute shopping.

The Swedish company's pullback has also meant that jobs

are in limbo, even though it said it would support

15,000 employees in the immediate future.

(man speaking foreign language)

- So far, most of the companies that are pulling out

have said that they will continue paying their employees.

It's not quite clear how long they'll be able to last,

so it's still sort of a wait and see approach.

- [Narrator] Not all foreign companies have chosen to leave.

Some are playing a balancing act

by staying put and scaling back.

For instance, McDonald's said it's suspended

direct operations in Russia but the outlets

owned by local franchises have remained open.

And Pepsi said, it's halting sales of its big soda brands

but will continue to sell other products

like the milk and baby food.

The corporate pullback is one of many pressure points

on Russia's economy.

A few days before Putin launched the war,

western nations dropped hard hitting sanctions

on the country.

And as a Rubble plunged, Russians lined up at ATMs

to take out cash.

This was also compounded by inflation

which has been persistently on the rise

during the coronavirus pandemic.

And now the war has made the purchasing power

of ordinary Russians even weaker.

So some started stocking up which has prompted supermarkets

to restrict the sale of some products.

Putin has vowed to carry out a raft of measures to offset

the pain of sanctions on Russians

and the government reassured the public

that there will be no shortage of food or daily necessities.

But as Western sanctions shake the Russian economy

and foreign companies continue to scale back,

domestic support for Moscow and the war isn't waning.

- That even among people that are against the war,

there's been sort of a blow back of thinking

how are these actual penalties,

how are Western companies leaving really helping fix

the situation?

- [Narrator] And this anti-west sentiment is already strong

in large swaths of the country.

For example, in one town more than 150 miles away

from Moscow, protestors drove cars marked with the letter Z

which has become a Russian pro-war symbol.

- Most of rural Russian and provincial Russia,

they rely on Russian produced goods anyways

and this is the majority of Vladimir Putin's support.

- [Narrator] And Putin's popularity has increased

after Russia launched its war in Ukraine.

He had an 83% approval rating according

to the independent Russian pollster Lavada Center.

So with no immediate end to the war in sight,

ordinary Russians may deal with deeper economic pain

as sanctions mount and more companies choose to leave.

(soft upbeat music)