In the basement of a central apartment block, the cafe offers free food for the elderly - a group particularly hard hit by the economic strains causing growing anger in Russia.Despite icy pavements making crossing the northern city difficult, the Dobrodomik - or"good little house" - is full.
She receives a monthly pension of 10,000 rubles . After paying her local taxes and buying medicine, Antsiferova is left with only US$45 to live on.Businesswoman Alexandra Syniak and her husband Yevgeny Gershevich opened Dobrodomik this winter to"thank the elderly". Pensioners enjoy a free midday meal and some entertainment at the Dobrodomik cafe in Saint Petersburg. Meagre pensions and inflation mean many elderly need some help to get by AFP/Olga MALTSEVA
"It's never been as hard for people as it is now," said Igor Nikolayev, director of the FBK Strategic Analysis Institute in Moscow.According to a January survey by the independent Levada centre, 61 per cent of Russians"feel shame for the eternal poverty and insecurity" of their country, compared to 56 percent in 2015.In January, Levada found his approval rating at 64 per cent - the lowest since 2014.