MOSCOW — The brand-new Avia Park is a glittering testament to the power of the Russian consumer. A panorama of white tile flooring, under a soaring, six story-tall glass roof, it is the largest mall in Europe, with 377,000 square meters of enclosed space, a 17-screen multiplex, even a 70-foot tall aquarium of tropical fish.

There is just one problem: It is a ghost town.

Row after row, storefronts are vacant. On a recent evening, a handful of visitors meandered past shops that have opened, but purchases are relatively rare. With no customers to serve, a chef at a Sbarro restaurant passed the time honing a knife.

The thinning of the mall crowds is one of the clearest indications that Western sanctions over Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict and falling oil prices are starting to bite. At home, Russians are reining in their spending.

“I suddenly started to lack money for everything,” Gadzhi Magomedov, a shopper at Avia Park, lamented over a Burger King meal in the food court on a recent evening.