- Russians fear medications may run out of the country due to Western sanctions.
- Sales of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications surged in particular, Reuters reported.
- Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko has called on Russians to stop stocking up on medicines.
Russians are buying extra supplies of medications, fearing they may run out in the country as a result of Western sanctions, Reuters reported.
Pharmaceuticals research company DSM Group found that Russians bought nearly the same amount of medicines between February 28 and March 13, as they did in the entire month of January, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, which Reuters cited, reported.
The rouble's value plummeted, following Western sanctions and foreign firms pulling out of Russia as punishment over its invasion of Ukraine, sending prices on everyday items skyrocketing. Meanwhile, distress over the invasion and its consequences has placed many Russians on the precipice of a looming mental health crisis, the Moscow Times reported.
The medications Russians are stocking up on include antidepressants and sleeping pills, according to Reuters.
Other DSM group data also indicates that sales of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications quadrupled between February 28 and March 6, when compared with the same period last year, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
According to Gallup, which monitored the Twitter feeds of Russians on the first day of the invasion, Russians experienced a deep decline in happiness, The Moscow Times reported.
Insulin, hormones, as well as cancer and heart drugs, are also among those being stockpiled, Reuters reported.
"I myself take L-thyroxine as I have issues with my thyroid gland so I'm taking it daily and I worry about it," Valentina, a Moscow resident, said, the agency reported.
"That's why I bought a supply of it for a couple of months in advance as I'm worried if I will be able to find it in pharmacies later. People are asking for it everywhere."
DSM Group's general director, Sergei Shulyak, told the newswire that people are panic-buying due to fear.
"It was fear," said Shulyak. "The first fear was that everything could get more expensive and the second fear was that medicines they need won't be available in some time. Those fears moved people. They stood in lines at pharmacies and bought everything."
DSM Group did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko called on Russians to stop stocking up on medicines, Reuters reported, saying on March 23, "I want to tell the public: you don't need to stock up."
"The suppliers say that deliveries are continuing as planned," he had also said in the televised address alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that there were shortages of certain medications as a result of people stocking up.
Shulyak told Reuters that although there were temporary shortages now, the situation will soon stabilize, with both Russian and foreign producers continuing to supply drugs albeit at higher prices.