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Yandex is not sanctioned, and should not be - it has nothing to do with the war, and neither do its users. Yandex offers a decent email service for free, and yo
by fareesh 4y ago
Yandex is not sanctioned, and should not be - it has nothing to do with the war, and neither do its users. Yandex offers a decent email service for free, and you can use your own domain. I had set up one for a few non-profits who are trying to get up and running. They really have nothing to do with the war, so having an outcome where their day-to-day operations are inconvenienced is a really thoughtless turn of events. I have read articles about unwelcome Russian dogs and cats and Russian artists who are losing livelihoods for no reason.
Either Putin is a democratically elected leader, or he is a dictator. If he's a dictator why does it make sense to punish normal everyday Russians? Oligarchs and henchmen I can understand, but a cat? or a singer? Or Dostoevsky?
This kind of reaction in the west is really something else. The rest of the world just wants NATO and Russia to get along but instead there is a proxy war and the Ukranian people are suffering most of all. It was obvious to expect this sort of thing from Putin, which is why it's even more surprising that there has been such an obsession with poking the bear. What did western leaders think will happen? And was it really worth so many millions of Ukranians having their lives ruined? And for what? NATO membership? They just wanted to go about their lives. The absolute neocon brazenness of the USA where folks like John McCain was addressing crowds of protesters in Maidan saying that the USA supports their political cause, and then a civil war broke out that has now lasted 8-10 years and now most of those same people are likely homeless. The foreign policy of the west is just dumbfounding, truly. So many parts of the world and so many people have had their lives ruined because of it.
- juanani 4y ago
- chelical 4y agoIt makes sense to punish Russia in the same vein we punished the citizens of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Putin was legitimately elected even if there were discrepancies, he's still extremely popular. The war has elevated his approval within Russia. The rest of this post operates under the premise that Ukrainians wanting to be a part of the EU/NATO was manipulated by the West. Even if that were the case, the invasion and the ongoing war crimes are committed by Russia.
- blub 4y agoNazi Germany and Imperial Japan lost a war and they were punished by the victors. Makes sense and is a well established pattern. Russia is in a war with Ukraine and it’s getting punished by… the US. Well, technically US allies are also involved but with different degrees of enthusiasm. This one seems much more arbitrary. The idea that the US is getting involved because of the war crimes doesn’t hold water either, because the US is also supporting perpetrators of war crimes in other conflicts. The more likely explanation is that the US wants to hurt Russia and NATO & co are tagging along. Anything which hurts Russia is fair game, including hurting citizens, companies, etc. Because that sounds a bit nasty, it’s better to express it as punishment for supporting Putin.
- trasz 4y agoNo, Russia is also being punished by the victors, in this case by Ukraine. US is secondary here: they are providing help to Ukraine, like other western (and even not so western) countries. Anything that hurts Russia is fair game, because that's how war works. It's not just in the interests of US, it's in everyone's interests, in particular for countries bordering with Russia.
- blub 4y agoFirst of all, the destruction of property, the deaths and the displacement of millions of people that Ukraine’s suffering is certainly not winning. They’re also not punishing Russia, as they lack the capability of doing so. They’re fighting for survival. The US is contrary to what you’ve said essential to this conflict. Without the US, Ukraine would already have a new pro-Russia president and the EU would have folded like a wet towel. Finally, “everyone” is not really everyone: it’s the US and allies. Countries that are bordering Russia like China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan or Belarus don’t necessarily share those interests or have opposite interests.
- trasz 4y agoRussian losses are several times higher, even without taking into account the money and property confiscated as part of sanctions. And the difference will only grow: Ukraine can be rebuilt, especially with all that Russian money. Russia won’t, simply because there is no reason for anyone to allow for this to happen: the only useful thing Russia got to offer is resources, and they can be obtained much cheaper if Russia is kept under control. Yes, it is true that without US Ukraine maybe wouldn’t be able to defend. We know what would happen: mass genocide. Russians already demonstrated that in Bucha, Mariupol and others. As for “everyone”: no, I mean literally everyone. Kazakhstan is leaving Russian “economic union”. China declines to buy from Russia, because that market is worthless and the risk doesn’t justify the price drop for Russian resources.
- throw_a_grenade 4y agoRussia and "Putin" does not exist in vacuum -- they need resources to wage the war. Sanctioning taxpayers to Russia takes away resources needed for war effort.
- blub 4y agoRussian citizens aren’t funding the war machine. The EU, China, India, etc are. But sanctioning them is admittedly actually hard :-)
- mda 4y agoRussian citizens are funding the war machine by keeping Putin in control. Edit: changed unnecessary wording
- blub 4y agoFunding means giving financial support. You’re referring to political support. Different thing. And for better or worse he is the president elect (as much as that may be worth in Russia) and is a very powerful person. As an aside, I wonder how many coups were proponents of such measures already involved in. Every hobby revolutionary has a plan until they get shot in the face.
- mda 4y agoEeh potato patato, political support enables financial support. As an aside, that Tyson remark is overused I think.
- marcinzm 4y agoRussia invaded Crimea at a time when most Ukrainians did not support NATO membership so saying this is about NATO is just deflection. The only reasons NATO membership has become such a popular option is because Russia already invaded Ukraine once in the last decade and has supported a second war by proxy in Ukraine for almost a decade.
- kangda123 4y agoRegardless of the alleged guilt of an average Russian (and the West's moral superiority to dispense punishment), doing business with Russian companies simply helps finance the war. Paying higher prices is literally the least we can do to save lives (on both sides of the conflict). Just like we should not persecute every Russian, we should not take away Ukrainians' law to defend themselves. I come from a country that spend a better part of last 250 years under occupation and, frankly, lots of people would rather die fighting than go through that again. Especially, given that Russia is not a free country even for their own citizens - let alone conquered nation.
- trasz 4y agoAnything that hurts Russia is fair at this point. This isn't one of those weird conflicts: this time there's clearly the bad side and the good side; Russia is guilty invading and perpetrating genocide for ideological reasons, and the West is helping the victim defend itself. (And also solve the root of the problem in the long run, by making sure Russia won't be able to invade anyone else in forseeable future.) Of course the West isn't without fault here: it made the mistake of ignoring previous cases of Russian aggression, but it appears it's being finally fixed now.
- teddyh 4y ago> This isn't one of those weird conflicts: this time there's clearly the bad side and the good side But people always say that. Every single time.
- trasz 4y agoBut they aren’t always wrong. Sometimes it really is (eventually) obvious who is the bad guys: like with WW2, or the current Russian invasion.