The United States and its allies have established numerous sanctions against Russia in protest of recent Russian military action in Ukraine.
“I think it’s important that countries be held accountable for their actions, even a country as big as Russia,” said Tim Kerr, a professor at Purdue University.
Since 2014, Russia has had a presence in Ukraine with an obvious desire for the territory. However, it wasn’t until February of 2022 that Russia officially declared war against Ukraine.
In a pre-dawn TV address on Feb. 24, President Putin declared that Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine. He also claimed his goal was to protect Russian people within Ukraine’s borders subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine.
The international community, including the United States, do not recognize Putin’s reasoning for declaring war as legitimate because Ukraine is governed by a firm democracy and led by a Jewish president.
“I can see why the global community is pretty mad. It doesn’t really seem like Putin had a reason to invade Ukraine,” said Ben Bates, a student at ASU.
As a result of the mass Russian invasion, the death count on both sides of the conflict continues to increase. According to a recent report from the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR), there have been the casualties of over 1,500 Ukrainian civilians, 1,300 official Ukrainian soldiers, and approximately 6,000 Russian soldiers.
In protest of Russia’s pursuit of Ukraine, the international community has come in arms to collaborate on numerous sanctions to limit Russia’s economic edge. One of the most devastating sanctions on Russia is the US banning all Russian oil and gas imports. In addition, the UK said in a recent statement that they will phase out all Russian gas and oil by the end of 2022.
Additional sanctions have been put on luxury goods, flights out of Russia, banks, military goods, and mercenaries in an effort to limit the strength of Russia’s economy and military forces. According to a recent report by BBC, an international news casting company, Ukraine says Russia’s main armored vehicle factory has run out of parts to make and repair tanks.
The report also stated that a tractor plant stopped production because of a shortage of foreign-made parts.
The private sector has also come together to limit their goods being available in Russia.
Companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Starbucks have stopped all trade within Russian territory. Large tech corporations such as Sony and Netflix have suspended their streaming and in-game purchasing services.
“I feel bad for the citizens and business owners of Russia because they never committed any crimes themselves, yet they have to pay the price,” said Blake Roberson, a senior.
In response to sanctions made against them, Putin has said he will make “unfriendly” nations pay for their imports of Russian gas in rubles, which would push up the value of the currency.