It's actually okay. The sanctions are a joke overhyped by Joe Biden. USD to RUB exchange value is around 81 which is almost pre-war levels. Most banks still use SWIFT just fine. Russians sign up for Visa and MasterCard in Kazakhstan via remote interviews. Kazakhstan also provided backdoor for lots of imports. Retail prices are just a bit higher than before. Restaurants are fully booked in Moscow.
No offense at all, and I know the expectations in Russia were already super low to begin with, but saying the sanctions are a joke because Russia can route it's imports through a 3rd world neighbor does not exactly scream everything is "actually OK". The situation is extremely bad.
It's a notch worse but it has very little noticeable effect on ordinary Russians' lives.
Even middle class people safely return from abroad (Istanbul, Dubai, Yerevan) where they expected to stay while economy crashed but it didn't.
Groceries cost pretty much the same, restaurants work, people don't get fired, you can even fly on a vacation to Turkey.
This is very sad because it seems that nobody will learn a lesson and Russians will watch war they allowed to happen like a thrilling TV show where they are the good guys.
Who has it worse? The country with a functioning workaround for the sanctions or the country whose entire economy is premised upon the continued viability of those sanctions?
Are you suggesting that USA's "entire economy" is premised upon whether the sanctions on Russia work or not? Russia effectively sold itself to China for.. what? The Donbas region? C'mon. This was all a massive miscalculation and the Russian people are going to be paying for it for _generations_.
Yes - the USA's "entire economy" is premised upon the dollar's reserve currency status, which depends on countries needing dollars to trade in vital commodities like oil (which Russia has). The US' seizure of the dollar reserves of Russia, Afghanistan, and others have deeply compromised that status quo. The SWIFT sanctions have also created the conditions for new interbank transfer systems to develop outside of US control which don't depend on the dollar.
Enjoy it while you can, these things hit much harder after a while. Nobody will trust Russia for at least 2 generations, I hope you are ready for the wild ride.
We are not enjoying because lots of people in Russia want the downfall of Putin and his clique. The problem is West is too cowardly. They announced "crippling sanctions" that looked sweet on paper but barely made a dent in the economy and are full of loopholes.
