Sanctions on Russia show the world cares

WHAT might be unbearable for the civilised world is quite normal for a Russian society with a Soviet mentality. Sanctions are frightening for Russians but they are not life-threatening.

It’s like punishing a murderer by sending him to a “calm corner”.

I lived in the USSR and I still remember the dark days of the 90s, with no food, few clothes and little opportunity to travel. We were told the Western world, especially the USA, was our enemy.

My mother used to buy me shoes three sizes too big because the shops were empty. She put cotton wool inside so they would fit.

The world turning its back on Russia will make people there feel uncomfortable but they will survive, as my family did in Soviet times.

After Mcdonald’s cut ties with the aggressor after 30 years of co-operation, people were queueing for hours to get a last piece of burger.

The more practical ones decided to freeze Happy Meals to sell online.

After Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson left, people became creative.

Some women made a business by making sanitary towels at home and selling them online.

When sanctions caused a shortage of electronic components, the government allowed the production of local cars without airbags and ABS. Employees of Kaliningrad company Avtotor are sent to pick strawberries instead of making cars.

In Britain there is a strong image of successful rich Russians showing off their luxury lives. But these are the minority.

Most Russians are poor and not educated.

The Russian Professor of Economics Maxim Mironov says the Ukrainian economy will suffer but, unlike Russia, “Ukraine has friends to help her rebuild”. He thinks:

“For Russia the drop of the economy is a step back in evolution.

“It is like returning from the Bronze Age to the

Stone Age.”

But for Ukraine, even with strong global support, there is no way to restore the human lives ended by the Russian attack.

And it’s naive to believe in any sign of repentance from a country where Coca-cola and Fanta are replaced by Cool-cola and Fancy, Chanel by Chavel, truth by lies. However, sanctions on Russia are important.

They are the big hope for us Ukrainians and we appreciate how the world cares.