It’s now cheaper to buy a FLAT than an iPhone in Putin’s Russia – as warmongering tyrant sends economy haywire

VLADIMIR Putin has tanked his economy so much that it is now cheaper to buy an iPhone than an entire flat in some parts of Russia. The tyrant has pushed Moscow towards an economic crisis through global sanctions and the need to fund his war machine as his invasion of Ukraine looks certain to enter its fifth year. The true extent of Russia’s failing economy is now becoming obvious to residents across the country. Multiple videos show civilians laughing at the state of house prices in some of Russia‘s poorer regions. One video is captioned: “I’m holding an apartment in Vorkuta in my hands.” It shows a woman zooming in on her new iPhone before flashing through several listings for apartments in the coal-mining town. read more in Putin Vorkuta is the third largest Russian region north of the Arctic Circle and has a population of around 50,000. But shockingly, one-bedroom apartments in the town are now available to buy outright for less than a new phone. In Russia, iPhones remain particularly pricey due to their popularity and cost to import. The latest Apple gadget to be released in Moscow is the iPhone 17 series with a standard 256GB version costing up to £1,140. Most read in The US Sun Those desperate enough to get their hands on popular Western brands of phones must pay hefty premiums to circumvent sanctions, international economics expert Charles Lichfield said. The most expensive model, the Pro Max, costs just under £2,000. If you were to buy the cheapest flat currently on sale in Vorkuta, you would only need £787 - more than 60 per cent less than the latest iPhone. At 34.4 square meters the flat falls just slightly under the required size of a UK studio flat but for tens of thousands less than the typical price. For less than £950, a buyer can proudly own a 57 square meter apartment in Vorkuta - larger than the majority of one bed new builds in London. Both of these flats are cheaper than the lowest value iPhone available to Russians. Describing Russia’s faltering economy, Lichfield told The Sun: “People are feeling the pinch of the income and inflation levels.” Of the six properties shown in the video, every single one costs under £1,800 - just above the average monthly rent cost of a London flat. The Sun has also managed to find a two bedroom apartment for only £1,895. While looking unwelcoming and dingy from the advertised pictures online, it does come fully furnished and has a balcony. Explaining how scheming Vlad minimises damage to Russia’s economy, Lichfield said: “All the economy has been affected, but Putin has been quite crafty in trying to make sure it affects other regions before Moscow and St Petersburg.” He also told how Putin’s regime “has been in deficit every year since the start of the war, but 2025 marked the biggest yet”. “We’re now at a point where Russia has basically depleted their rainy day fund,” he...

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