KHOTKOVO, Russia — In the early days of 1992, prices here exploded by an average of 350 percent as post-Communist Russia crash-landed into a free market economy. Six years later, in August 1998, prices again gyrated wildly after the Russian government devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debts.

In comparison, this year’s plunge in the value of the ruble seems positively tame, which may explain the relative stoicism among shoppers here as they shuffled along snow-covered paths, making the rounds of the shops and getting ready for the long holiday season.

That isn’t to say that inflation — now above 10 percent — is not on everyone’s mind. Several store managers said the same thing: Prices have been going up with each delivery. In a store in the nearby village of Akhtyrka, the sales clerk advised a couple of elderly shoppers to come back later, after she had updated the price list.

For consumers and retailers alike, Russia’s latest economic crisis has come in stages. The first impact was felt last summer, when Russia retaliated against the West for Ukraine-related sanctions by imposing a ban on food imports from the United States, the European Union and several other trading partners. The second blow came after the value of the ruble took a deep plunge in mid-December, before bouncing back somewhat. A third is expected as rising interest rates choke off credit.