So this is not just the official position of the Russian government, but also that of the United Russia party — its leader, Dmitry Medvedev, lowered the country’s subsistence minimum.
Since the subsistence minimum is tied to the prices of essential food items, this can only be done if prices are falling.
And that is exactly what happened — Medvedev backed a proposal from the Labor Ministry, which recorded a “drop in food prices.”
In all seriousness. A drop. In food. Prices.
I don’t know where they took those measurements. Maybe they opened a special government-only store.