Martin Doucha, “a computer scientist and Pirate Party supporter,” has written a response to both Alexey and me. Lots of rich context, on the way to reaching a complementing conclusion:
In conclusion, inaction is not an option for the rest of Europe and the world. Russian aggression must stop here and now, because the consequences of letting it continue are far too terrible. NATO cannot intervene by fighting the Russian army directly due to the risk of nuclear war. So the only remaining option is to bankrupt the Russian army through sanctions. And unfortunately, there’s no way to do that without destroying the Russian economy as a whole. Foreign companies are not leaving Russia out of some moral duty or to punish ordinary people for the actions of their government. They don’t care about any of that. They’re leaving because Russia is almost completely cut off from the global banking system due to sanctions and they’re losing tons of money by staying open.
Every day that the war continues means irreparable damage to Russian economy. Even if the sanctions were lifted immediately, Russia will slowly plunge into a recession that’ll make the collapse of Soviet Union in the 1990s look like a walk in the park. The damage is already done and I hope that you ordinary Russians can forgive us for doing it because we have no better choice.
