It has been more than 2 months since Russia waged a war against Ukraine, on February 24, 2022. Since then, a war that was aimed to capture what "originally" was part of Russia, actually cost the country heavily, be it financially, or through loss of human lives. By the Kremlin's own admission, Russia has suffered “significant losses” in Ukraine amounting to a “huge tragedy” for the country. “Yes, we have significant losses of troops and it is a huge tragedy for us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told a US media last month.
It is no news that Russia added fuel to fire by waging this war, despite US President Joe Biden warning Russian President Vladimir Putin against it. Delivering on its promise, several heavy sanctions were imposed on Russia, by countries like the UK, US, and the European Union. Russia's unwillingness to see Ukraine become a part of NATO or the EU, cost it heavily.
Economic sanctions against Russia
There are some financial sanctions against Russia already in place. Its central bank assets have been frozen, to stop it using its $630 billion of foreign currency reserves. This became the primary reason why inflation rose by 14% since the war in Russia. It caused the rouble to fall 22% in value, pushing up the price of imported goods. The United States has barred Russia from making debt payments using the $600m it holds in US banks, making it harder for Russia to repay its international loans.
Major Russian banks have been removed from the international financial messaging system Swift,. This will delay payments to Russia for energy exports.
The UK has excluded key Russian banks from the UK financial system, frozen the assets of all Russian banks, barred Russian firms from borrowing money, and placed limits on deposits Russians can make at UK banks.
EU's call for Russian oil ban in new set of sanctions
Not long ago, a European Union official called on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia in a sixth package of sanctions targeting Moscow for its war in Ukraine. If approved, the ban on oil imports will be the second package of EU sanctions targeting Russia's lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine. In addition to sanctions on various entities and individuals — including Putin himself and members of his family — the bloc previously approved an embargo on coal imports, reported news agency AP.
The EU is also proposing to disconnect Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, and the Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank from the international payments system Swift, used to transfer money across borders.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet sinks, tanks and troops lost to war
Not just financially, Russia also suffered as its troops and civilians lost their lives to the war. At least 1,500 civilians have been killed so far, according to the United Nations, which fears the real number to be far higher. Casualties on the Russian side have been harder to assess with the country’s defence minister saying on March 25 – its most recent update – that 1,351 of its soldiers have been killed in combat, while 3,825 were wounded, reported Aljazeera.
In another significant loss, Russia’s Black Sea fleet Moskva sank on April 14, after a fire sparked an ammunition blast a day earlier. Ukraine said it hit the vessel with two anti-ship missiles.
Companies pulling out of Russia
Several multinational companies were forced to re-examine their business operations in Russia after the war began. Under pressure from investors, many companies started to unwind their investments, close stores and pause sales in Russia. Some of these companies include Nestlé, Uniqlo, Unilever, Ikea, H&M, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, American Express, Heineken, Burger King, McDonald's, Starbucks, Netflix etc.
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