In Russia, dying has never been more affordable—or more humiliating. Cardboard coffins, once reserved for unclaimed bodies and stray dogs, are now flying off the shelves. According to funeral directors quoted in Lenta.ru and other Russian outlets, up to 50% of all burials in some regions now use cardboard boxes instead of traditional wooden caskets. “We never used to offer them unless someone specifically asked,” admitted one undertaker. “Now people come in and ask for cardboard first.