War was far away from Russian territory when Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine. The conflict came home in the form of unprecedented and unexpectedly extensive volleys of sanctions by Western governments and economic punishment by corporations.
Three months after the February 24 invasion, many ordinary Russians are still reeling from the blow. Moscow's vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.
McDonald's opened in Russia in 1990 as a cultural phenomenon, a shiny modern convenience coming to a dreary country with limited choices. The epitome of affordable modern comforts is Ikea. Tens of thousands of once-secure jobs are suddenly in question.
Despite their huge investments in Russia, major industrial players walked away. Shell estimates it will lose $5 billion by selling its Russian assets.
While the multinationals were leaving, thousands of Russians who had the economic means to do so were also fleeing, frightened by new government moves connected to the war that they saw as a plunge into full totalitarianism. Some young men fled in fear that the Kremlin would impose a mandatory draft to feed its war machine.
The European Union, along with the United States and Canada, had banned flights to and from Russia. It took 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884 888-349-8884
vicarious travel via the Internet and social media has been narrowed for Russians. Russia banned Facebook and other social media sites in March, but can be circumvented by using a virtual private network.
Russian authorities passed a law that called for up to 15 years of imprisonment for stories about the war. The Ekho Moskvy radio station and Novaya Gazeta are both owned by the same person.
The psychological cost of the restrictions could be high on ordinary Russians. Some public opinion polls in Russia suggest support for the war in Ukraine is strong, but the results are likely skewed by respondents who stay silent, wary of expressing their genuine views.
Russian society is gripped by an aggressive submission, and the degradation of social ties could accelerate, according to a commentary by the Carnegie Moscow Center.
The discussion gets broader and broader. You can call your fellow citizen a fellow citizen, but one who has a different opinion, and consider them an inferior kind of person. Like the most senior state officials, you can speculate freely and calmly on the prospects of a nuclear war. He wrote that it was never allowed in Soviet times, when the two sides understood that the damage was unthinkable.
He said that understanding is waning and that is a sign of the disaster Russia is facing.
The economic consequences are still being played out.
The Russian ruble lost half of its value in the early days of the war. The government's efforts to shore it up have raised its value.
Chris Weafer is a veteran Russia economy analyst at Macro-Advisory.
We see a decline in the economy across a broad range of sectors. Companies are running out of spare parts. Many companies put their workers on part time work and others warn them that they have to shut down. He told The Associated Press that there is a fear that unemployment will rise during the summer months and that there will be a big drop in consumption and retail sales.
The ruble's strength poses problems for the national budget, Weafer said.
They receive their revenue in foreign currency from the exporters and their payments are in rubles. The stronger the ruble, the less money they have to spend.
More companies could leave Russia if the war continues. If a cease-fire and peace deal for Ukraine are reached, Weafer suggested that companies who have only suspended operations might resume.
If you walk around shopping malls in Moscow, you can see that many of the fashion stores have closed. The shelves are full and the lights are on. They are simply not open. They haven't pulled out yet. He explained that they are waiting to see what happens next.
Weafer said that those companies will soon be pressed to resolve the limbo that their Russian businesses are in.
He said that companies are getting to the stage where they are starting to run out of time or patience.
There is a
The war in Ukraine is covered by the AP.
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