One day in February, Maria went to buy a green juice but her card was declined.
She tried to buy groceries. Her card was declined again.
The Russian student, who did not want to share her last name, was told a day earlier that her Russian bank card would be blocked. She wanted to see if it was true.
She told Insider that they were worth nothing, referring to the value of Russian currency.
Russia has been ostracized by the international community since it invaded Ukraine. Its network of wealthy people have had their assets frozen and their overseas properties raided.
The ruble has been one of the worst-performing currencies of the year so far, and it plummeted in the early days of the invasion. The international system of payment used by thousands of banks worldwide has been banned by major Russian lenders. Money troubles have been caused by the decision by Mastercard and Visa to suspend their Russian operations.
On March 11th, Maria received a text from her Russian bank, Sberbank, stating that it would not affect her Sberbank cards in Russia.
Maria is on an exchange in Singapore because she has a scholarship to cover her expenses there. The money is deposited into her Italian bank account.
She is worried about what she will do when her semester ends.
She explained that she has a scholarship that only partially covers her living costs in Italy.
Her earnings are deposited into her blocked Russian bank account. On occasion, her mom sends her money to the Russian account. She said that the exchange rate would leave her with nothing if she were able to access funds through it.
Alena, who asked not to share her last name, was deterred from working for Russian clients because of the exchange rate.
The international Russian student lives in the UK and works as a translator and designer when she isn't studying.
It doesn't make sense for me to work as a freelancer in Russia because of the currency exchange rates, Alena told Insider.
Even if she did work with Russian clients, she wouldn't be able to transfer her rubles from her Russian Alfabank account to her UK Lloyds bank account.
Alena was anticipating the financial repercussions of the invasion of Ukraine. She decided to transfer funds from her Russian account to her British one on the second day of the conflict.
She said that she was thinking that it might lead to sanctions and that she would have to transfer the money.
Another Russian is using a foreign bank card.
The man who fled to Istanbul, Turkey in March has a bank account in the country. The first of its kind, the Eastern European country has a scheme that allows anyone to apply for a digital ID, open a bank account, and run a virtual business in the country.
A graphic designer with an IT background, Litvinenko has been using his Estonian business card as well as a local Paycell card.
He told Insider that his Russian bank cards are pieces of plastic.
The advice the Russian government gave at the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine was to stay home and use the Mir domestic payment system.
He was afraid of a rise in hate speech against him if he stayed in Russia. He left for Turkey because the US and EU wouldn't issue visas to Russians.
He wants to bring his wife to Istanbul from Moscow. He wants to continue to grow his business, and possibly become a citizen of the country.
There are no plans for the three Russians abroad to return to their home country soon.
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