Losing global access hits harder than sanctions

When Western companies started coming to Russia, it felt like a breath of fresh air – suddenly we had things like Spotify, Steam, and official game localizations, and it really felt like we were part of the wider world. Now, after the invasion of Ukraine, all of that vanished almost overnight. It’s not just about missing out on cool apps or products – it’s like the whole era of connection and possibility just got erased, all because Putin launched his war and dragged the country into chaos. But honestly, it’s way too simple to blame everything on just one person. There’s a ton of support for the war here, or at least, there’s a lot of people who buy into the whole “fighting Ukrainian nazis” story that’s pumped out by every news channel, or who just go along with whatever’s the safest position. The Russian government locked down all independent media ages ago, so now the official line is everywhere: Russia is always defending itself, Ukraine is run by fascists, and Europe is full of “crazy warmongers” except for a few “sensible” countries who are either pro-Russian or already got meddled with. The Russian Orthodox Church gets used too – the Patriarch even called speaking out against the war heresy once – but honestly, for most people I know, their worldview comes straight from TV, not church sermons, unless maybe you’re from a really rural place. Most Russians I know just want to be left alone and say they’re “not political,” but the government twists that passivity into the claim that “the majority supports the war” because nobody protests or speaks out. In reality, if the war ended tomorrow, barely anyone would care. All these doors to the world slammed shut, and it hurts to see how much we lost just because of this massive propaganda machine. At least there’s one small comfort: with Western companies gone, that’s less money going to fuel the war.