Russian retail sales fell last month for the first time in more than five years as real wages plunged the most since 1999, underscoring the damage inflicted on the economy by a tailspin in oil prices and the ruble’s collapse. Sales declined 4.4 percent from a year earlier after expanding 5.3 percent in December, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said Wednesday in a statement. The median estimate of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 1.9 percent decline. Wages adjusted for inflation shrank 8 percent. The drop in consumption, which accounts for about half the economy, is the latest blow for President Vladimir Putin as Russia lurches into recession following the oil rout and U.S. and European sanctions over Ukraine. The fastest inflation rate in almost seven years and the ruble’s 46 percent slump in 2014 are eating into workers’ paychecks, putting Russia on track […]