Food and non-alcoholic beverages surged 26.1 percent, following a 22.8 percent rise in the previous month. Sugar cost increased 67.1 percent, cereals and legumes went up 51.5 percent, fish and sea products increased 30.8 percent and meat and poultry prices rose 25 percent.
Additional upward pressures came from transport (12.8 percent), housing, water, electricity and gas (9.8 percent), clothing and footwear (8.5 percent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (15.5 percent) and hotels, cafes and restaurants (10.8 percent).
On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 2.2 percent, lower than a 3.9 percent increase in January.
The inflation rate has been on an upward trend since the beginning of 2014 as the ruble depreciation lead to a rise in import prices – the currency lost nearly 90 percent to the USD since January 2014.