Well, "withdraw in local currency, exchanged with a fair market conversion rate" is very far from "cash withdrawals are banned" or "can't do pretty much anythin

Well, "withdraw in local currency, exchanged with a fair market conversion rate" is very far from "cash withdrawals are banned" or "can't do pretty much anything". And if you need cash, you can easily exchange that rubles back to good old USD cash with a 5% to 10% premium. Furthermore, SWIFT is not entirely blocked, it is just prohibitively complex and expensive for ordinary people now.