War triggers soaring sales of pills in Russia
According to the daily Vedomosti, the sale of over-the-counter sleeping pills in Russia increased dramatically after the start of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine.
In 2022, six million boxes of melatonin tablets were sold in Russia, compared with 4.9 million boxes in 2021. In 2023, this figure rose to 6.7 million, and in 2024 the figures continue to rise, which will undoubtedly be an absolute record for the last five years, reports the newspaper.
During the two years of the war, for example, Russians bought 12.7 million boxes of sleeping pills, while in the previous three years (2019 to 2021), 10.6 million packs were sold.
In the Zdravcity chain, over the last five years, sales of over-the-counter sleeping pills have increased tenfold, but the maximum increase was recorded in 2024, said the company's general manager, Boris Popov.
(MH with FM/Source: Europa Press /Photo: Sonia Dauer/Unsplash)