- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
Russia's plastic surgery sector feels pinch from western sanctions
When it comes to looking good, Russian women are happy to splash out, even on a bit of nip-and-tuck plastic surgery.
But Western sanctions in the wake of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine mean that supplies of products such as botox and breast implants -- largely imported from countries such as the United States and Germany -- could become increasingly hard to get hold of.
Anastasia Yermakova, 37, is worried: she had her last injection of botox (botulinum toxin) in February to reduce facial wrinkles.
"My beautician assures us that she still has stocks of botox," she told AFP.
"But I worry," she said, arguing that local botox replacements are of inferior quality.
Russia ranks ninth globally in the number of aesthetic procedures carried out annually -- 621,600 in 2020, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
And the Russian aesthetic medicines sector was worth $969 million in 2021, up two percent from the year before, according to the Russian consultancy Amiko.
Soon after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, US drugmaker AbbVie, which is behind the wrinkle treatment Botox, withdrew from the flourishing Russian market over what it called "tragic events" in Ukraine.
As a result, Botox stocks are "melting", Yuliya Frangulova, co-founder of the National Association of Aesthetic Medicine Clinics, told AFP.
Frangulova said it is "causing concern of clinic managers accustomed to using this reference product".
- 'Say goodbye to fillers' -
"In March, we saw a panic among patients, doctors and suppliers," said Oksana Vlasova, director of development at the Grandmed beauty clinic in Russia's second city Saint Petersburg.
"The demand exploded, the stocks of botox were emptying."
In April and May, there were no botox imports at all, said Nikolay Bespalov of RNC Pharma which analyses the Russian pharmaceutical market.
He hopes supplies could resume "towards the end of the summer."
Russians are also running out of some Western-made face fillers, in particular injections of hyaluronic acid to plump up lips -- a very popular procedure in the country.
"We are also forced to say goodbye" to fillers from AbbVie, Vlasova said, hoping that European producers can fill in the gap.
It is also getting harder to get breast implants -- due to a lack of Russian producers.
All breast implants in Russia are imported, with 60 percent coming from the United States and 13 percent from Germany, according to industry estimates.
The sanctions do not target the supply of implants, but the disrupted logistics and other factors affected both breast reconstruction and aesthetic operations.
In March, prices of implants rose threefold, before stabilising at a level 20 percent higher than before the start of Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine, plastic surgeon Evgeny Dobreikin told AFP.
- Patriotic breasts -
Alexander Saversky, president of the League of Patient Advocates, fears that cheap but potentially dangerous products could soon start arriving in clinics, recalling the scandal of the French firm PIP's poor quality breast implants.
Saversky predicted that the problems will soon apply to the rest of the health industry.
"In a few months, the shortages of medical equipment in Russia, 80 percent of which is imported from abroad, will be critical," he said.
Soaring inflation and uncertain future also create problems for beauty professionals, as Russians have begun to tighten their belts.
In Saint Petersburg, Vlasova has already seen a drop in her clientele.
"The population's income has gone down," she said.
"People are reducing their expenses."
But in the midst of dark times, plastic surgeon Dobreikin sees an opportunity.
He wants to win new clients with patriotic themes.
In late May, he floated the idea of "RosGrud" (Russian Breasts) implants, which instead of being translucent are in the colours of the Russian flag or military fatigues.
One of his clients, Nastella Sokolova, a 28-year-old designer, is enthusiastic.
"It's my way of defending my homeland," she said.
The surgeon is now looking to find a supplier abroad who is willing to create such implants for him.
Dobreikin warns wits against mocking his project, alluding to harsh penalties introduced in the country for anyone criticising the army.
"Perhaps those who are against our patriotic implants are also against our country?"
P.M.Smith--AMWN