It is an open secret that the Russian economy is suffering from the shortage of investment. Car-making factories close, large-scale shelf projects are suspended. As a consequence of Putin's aggression against Ukraine, the West continues to put pressure on the Russian economy in all of its sectors, but the space industry largely remained out of sanctions. Nevertheless workers at a new national space centre under construction in Russia's Far East have gone on hunger strike after they failed to receive months of unpaid wages despite a promise from Vladimir Putin. The lb9bn Vostochny cosmodrome project is threatening to become an embarrassment for the Kremlin, with the president appearing powerless to intervene. Mr Putin gave an assurance last week that wages would be paid at the site but the money has still not been handed over. Such figures bring back painful memories of the 1990s, when strapped factories sometimes paid their workers in the goods they manufactured, such as glassware or headstones, rather than money. At a Ford plant near St Petersburg more than 300 workers downed tools this month, complaining that part of their wages is being withheld. Meanwhile, a small group of doctors in Moscow surgeries are carrying out an "Italian strike" in which they only fufil the minimum obligations laid out in their contracts. They are upset about poor working conditions and planned job cuts. Workers at an iron ore mining and processing plant in Kachkanar in the Urals went on a similar "work-to-rule" strike over layoffs last month. Builders at the Vostochny spaceport attracted Mr Putin's attention to their plight by writing graffiti in huge letters on the roofs of their construction huts, reading "Dear Putin, V.V.", "Four months without pay", and "Save the workers".

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Russian space centre workers launch hunger strike after Vladimir Putin promises fail.

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