In many people's minds, the Russian President Mr. Putin has completely lost it - and fight a war he can't win. The resistance and the support to the Ukrainian population are overwhelming. The only one-week-old war in Ukraine hit the Russian people. Sanctions have led to hyperinflation, interest rates in the 20s, and people lined up in front of banks to withdraw their savings. The sanctions have frozen 4,000 billion dollars that the Russian Central bank has no access to, and the SWIFT system is also a no-go for most Russian banks. The widely discussed Nordstream II went bankrupt today. As it was supposed to deliver gas to the Germans in return for needed cash, this weapon seems not viable anymore - 106 people were fired. To re-open the company is likely not an option as long as Putin continues the war!
As if this shouldn't concern Putin enough, maybe the support of weapons from Switzerland and Germany - along with money supporting buying weapons from the EU. More than 520,000 people are fleeing from Ukraine, putting massive pressure on Poland, but the support from all European countries, governments, populations, and businesses is overwhelming.
Today Apple announced stopping the sales of Apple products in Russia - and many other companies like Maersk, Best Seller, and other large companies have followed. Of course, the closing of SWIFT makes it impossible to get paid, so as this could be one reason, companies like BP (British Petroleum) pull out their operations from Russia - and with a loss in the range of 25 billion Pounds as far as I remember. The Norwegian state foundation pull their investments out of Russia, worth 100 billion dollars, I believe - the numbers are so vast that it's almost beyond comprehension!
The Sport-world has also made strong statements and banned Russian Sport globally. As insignificant as this can sound, it may influence Putin as he is a sports fanatic that has used Sport to polish his own status!
From the political word - I heard today that a few Chinese people talked against Putin, which understanding China most likely means that official China doesn't support the invasion. That is good news, as Putin seems VERY alone globally, only supported by Belarus!
Though I a few days ago suggested companies from the printing industry withdraw from selling equipment to Russia, no one has publically announced this (as far as I have seen). Though the closing of SWIFT most likely effectively terminates business in Russia, I believe our industry should be front-runners in supporting democracy and free speech! Free speech is where we come from, and though a few companies in the industry don't give a shit about democracy and free speech, I would have expected massive support banding Russia.
It's, of course, great to see how some of the significant companies color their HQs with Ukrainian colors - but that doesn't change much for anybody!
The Danish global clothing producer Best Seller (parent company to companies such as Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only, Selected, Vila Clothes) and billion-dollar business pulled out of Russia today. They even told their employees in Ukraine that they would pay salaries to those who fight against Russia. They also said they would financially support Ukraine.
Many IT companies in our industry are based or get work done in Ukraine. To mention a few, Vistaprint/Cimpress, Cloudprinter, Enfocus have employees in Ukraine - and of course, these companies are highly influenced with sadness when they can see what happens there!
Today Russian military has started bombing telecommunication/infra-structure - and as this will be an attempt to control the media, Elon Musk today delivered the first dishes to Ukrainian people. He also enabled his Star Link network over Ukraine. Star Link can not be controlled by Putin - as long as there is power in the grid!
I suggest that vendors in the graphics arts industry pull the plug to Russia - and I think governments should put extra pressure on Putin by saying - that for every day he continues his war, the sanctions will last one month after the war. Hard against hard is what is needed.
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