Not only bread, but also circuses

How is the life of Russians changing under sanctions?

2022-03-04
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The sanctions that the world majority is now imposing on Russia affect not only economic aspects, but also cultural, sports, educational, etc. How do global companies and organizations react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

Automakers: who have already announced their exit from the Russian market

According to the latest trends, Russians will soon switch to Lada cars again. See for yourself:

The Japanese concerns Honda and Mazda are stopping the export of their cars, motorcycles and components to the Russian Federation.

BMW will no longer produce or supply cars to Russia. Previously, BMW assembled cars at Avtotor facilities, but stopped production. “We condemn the aggression against Ukraine and are following developments with great concern,” a BMW spokesman said.

Jaguar Land Rover, General Motors, Audi and Volkswagen also announced the suspension of car shipments to Russia.

Volvo, Mercedes, Porsche decided to completely stop their business in Russia. Renault and Hyundai are doing the same, whose factories are also located in the Russian Federation and which employ more than 5,000 people. Chevrolet and Cadillac also announced their exit from the market.

Toyota is closing its business in Russia - 2,600 employees are left without work. The same thing applies to employees of Russian Mitsubishi service centers (141 branches in total).

Ford has decided to close all its stores in Russia.

Harley Davidson stops supplying motorcycles - from now on, Russian night wolves will be forced to switch to Izhi cars with sidecars.

Lifestyle: what changes are already happening in everyday life?

We will not write much about how sanctions affect officials and oligarchs; we will only note that the US President promised to confiscate yachts, apartments, and money of Russian elites located abroad. Well, let us remind you that the Spanish court acquitted the Ukrainian sailor who, together with his colleagues, opened several locks on the luxury yacht of the vice-president of the Rostec arms production concern Alexander Mikheev, which led to its partial flooding and significant losses. This act is especially important to the editors of our publication, since it was caused by a Russian missile hitting the building of our Kyiv office.

Well, for those who continue to broadcast that you need to stay out of politics, and believe that sanctions will not affect ordinary people, here is a selection of changes that are happening right now and affect almost everyone, because it’s about food, clothes, gadgets, etc. .d., to which we are all so accustomed. So:

Nike is suspending sales through its website and mobile app.

Clothing marketplaces Yoox and Net-a-Porter have frozen the delivery of goods to Russia.

Alcohol giant Nemiroff has revoked its production license in Russia.

Apple re:Store stores have not opened in Moscow. The company also confirmed the stop of exports to Russia and the restriction of other services: for example, Apple Pay in full block.

Other computer giants - Dell, HP, Lenovo - also announced their exit from the Russian market. A

Intel is about banning the supply of its microchips.

Carlsberg is limiting its exports to Russia.

Coca Cola announced its exit from the market. Like Danone - together with its subsidiary Prostokvashino.

Nestle is closing all six factories in the Russian Federation.

Metro Cash and Carry, where more than 10,000 Russian citizens work, announced their exit from the market.
International delivery services DHL and FedEx have also joined the global strike against Russian aggression.

Entertainment: movies, games, apps

Users from Russia are already faced with the fact that they cannot renew their subscriptions to Spotify and Netflix when paying with cards from banks that are subject to sanctions.

Nintendo announced a ban on paying for its service in rubles. And PlayStation has limited the ability to pay for its service from Russia.

Hollywood companies are stopping the distribution of their products in Russia en masse. The studios Paramount, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney, and Sony have already announced this. The latest film release from Hollywood studios in Russia was “Batman”.

And the British television company BBC Studios announced the withdrawal of licenses for its content for Russia.

The Eurovision press service reported that this year not a single Russian group or performer will participate in the competition: due to the military invasion of Ukraine, the participation of Russian artists in

Eurovision will "damage the reputation of the competition".

Cannes Festival refused the Russian delegation.

OnlyFans was also announced to close in Russia. And Pornhub issued a ban on access to its content.

Sports sanctions

Football: there are several news here at once.

Firstly, FIFA and UEFA banned the Russian national team from participating in all tournaments. UEFA also terminates the contract with Gazprom.

Secondly, the coach of the Moscow FC Lokomotiv Markus Gisdol resigned and stated that he simply could not fulfill his duties during the Kremlin’s aggression in Ukraine. “I cannot stay at the base in Moscow, train players, demand professionalism, when a few kilometers away they are giving orders that bring great suffering to an entire people. This is my personal decision, and I am absolutely sure of it.”

Thirdly, Adidas is ending cooperation with the Russian Football Union.

Volleyball: The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) announced the postponement of the 2022 World Cup, which was supposed to be held in Russia.

Auto racing: the International Automobile Federation stated that Russian drivers will be able to compete, but not under Russian flags, but with neutral attributes. Formula 1 canceled the tournament in Sochi.

Tennis: The International Tennis Federation has suspended the membership of the Russian Tennis Federation and canceled tournaments in Russia.

Basketball: the International Basketball Federation has suspended Russian athletes from participating in international competitions under the auspices of the organization.

Hockey: the International Hockey Federation has suspended the Russian and Belarusian national teams from participating in international matches for an indefinite period.

MOK: Cancellation of all competitions.



Man is a social being. And no matter what anyone says, and no matter how much they resort to bravado now, the complete isolation of Russians from the rest of the world community is happening right now. Are people accustomed to comfort in everyday life ready for such consequences? Our editorial team hopes not, which means it’s time to go out into Russian squares and say #notowar.

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