# Sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Tags:** ukraine-invasion\
**Created:** [February 23, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007 "2022-02-23T14:17:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 16

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/302 "2022-03-17T16:47:12Z")

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No surprise here…

> **[Koch Industries stays in Russia, backs groups opposing U.S. sanctions](https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEG3lhCTORxapqTy3atGv-3wqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowyNj6CjDyiPICMJyFxQU?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen)**
>
> ▶ Watch Video: Companies reevaluate business in Russia amid Ukraine invasion As hundreds of major U.S. companies exit Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries is staying put. The industrial conglomerate — the second-largest privately...

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**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/303 "2022-03-17T17:02:30Z")

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More pretend-Patriots from the Right.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/304 "2022-03-17T17:08:53Z")

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They’re not even pretending anymore. They’re full on Russia supporters now.

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**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/305 "2022-03-17T17:10:50Z")

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Oh, that’s true, but I bet they would _consider themselves_ more patriotic than a namby-pamby liberal (or progressive? Whatever I am) like me.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/306 "2022-03-17T17:12:27Z")

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Of course! They will wave an American flag while thumbing their nose at sanctions and that is all that matters.

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**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/307 "2022-03-18T14:45:30Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> No surprise here…

Looks like they’re among 33 companies not pulling out of Russia:  
[WaPo article - companies funding Putin’s war](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/16/boycott-companies-business-russia-putin-ukraine-war/)

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**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/308 "2022-03-19T13:02:59Z")

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Putin is threatening to ban any company that does not return to Russia by May 1st with a 10-year ban. So his solution to sanctions is to sanction his own country for 10 years? I don’t think Putin realizes that Russia, for many of these companies, is a small market. Perhaps 2% or so of sales. Maybe Putin is delusional after all and thinks Russia is a much bigger deal than it is in actuality? Russia has been all threats lately, but they don’t really have any power or leverage (besides nuclear weapons). Bizarre.

Good luck with the 10-year ban, Putin. I’m sure that will keep your people from overthrowing you. /s

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/309 "2022-03-19T16:18:58Z")

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> [@BeepKillBeep](#):
>
> Putin is threatening to ban any company that does not return to Russia by May 1st with a 10-year ban. So his solution to sanctions is to sanction his own country for 10 years? I don’t think Putin realizes that Russia, for many of these companies, is a small market. Perhaps 2% or so of sales.

It is more plausibly a threat to those companies that haven’t yet pulled out. The companies [listed here in category 5](https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-400-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain) that actually do have substantial Russian exposure/holdings and may find themselves under increasing public/government/stockholder pressure to pull out despite that. Just a little more reason to dig in their heels and resist participating in sanctions.

But yeah it does sound like a particularly petulant rant.

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**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/310 "2022-03-19T17:02:53Z")

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Thanks for posting this list - makes it pretty clear which companies to no longer purchase products from.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/311 "2022-03-19T17:17:00Z")

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Luckily, the only one that will have any impact on me will be Barilla, and there are plenty of substitutes available for them.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/312 "2022-03-19T17:29:26Z")

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> [@romansperson](#):
>
> Thanks for posting this list - makes it pretty clear which companies to no longer purchase products from.

As noted in articles on this topic some of those companies have plausible humanitarian concerns for not pulling out entirely - i.e. supplying baby food or insulin. But only some and somewhat limited. Hard to argue how necessary Subway franchises are 🙄. Though I do sympathize for the poor Russian franchisees who get caught up in the middle through no fault of their own.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/313 "2022-03-19T18:27:52Z")

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Sorry, but Subway has no good excuse. I agree the baby food and insulin companies should not be lumped with the others.

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**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/314 "2022-03-20T00:47:07Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Sorry, but Subway has no good excuse. I agree the baby food and insulin companies should not be lumped with the others.

problem: the baby-food company also sells its soluble coffee and 100s of other products like chocolate and candy (and surely will continue to sell those)…

which makes the cynic in me think they just drive the baby-food reasoning because they are SSWH’s (slimy-swiss-weasels-holes) and see if they can get away with this without being called out…

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/315 "2022-03-20T01:13:57Z")

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What’s Bose’s excuse?

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/316 "2022-03-20T01:24:52Z")

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Babies like music…

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/317 "2022-03-20T01:35:05Z")

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> [@romansperson](#):
>
> Thanks for posting this list - makes it pretty clear which companies to no longer purchase products from.

Cancel culture! Cancel culture! What are you doing, virtue-signalling? Or worse yet, just plain _woke_?

[Sarcasm off.]

Do I sound like a right-wing American? I tried to use as many of their favourite tropes as possible.

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**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/318 "2022-03-20T01:54:28Z")

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Okay Subway has an explanation. Or at least an excuse. Subways in Russia are all franchises, not wholly owned. Unlike McDonalds they don’t really have control over them.

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**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/319 "2022-03-20T02:56:50Z")

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Related schadenfreude:

> **[Seized Russian oligarchs' yachts 'could deteriorate in a matter of weeks':...](https://www.rawstory.com/russian-oligarchs-2656992597/)**
>
> According to a report from Business Insider, yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs that have been seized in multiple countries due to Ukraine war sanctions will quickly fall into disrepair as authorities decide how to dispose of them.In conversation...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/320 "2022-03-20T03:53:18Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Okay Subway has an explanation. Or at least an excuse. Subways in Russia are all franchises, not wholly owned.

Ah, but Burger King is in category 2 (along with McDonalds, who have about 100 franchises of their own in Russia, in addition to another ~750 company stores), having suspended all corporate support for their Russian franchises. Subway is rather notorious in the U.S. for being among the worst franchisers out there, having been accused (and sued for it) of a lot of deliberate exploitation of their franchisees. Hard to say if the model is similar in Russia, but they certainly could be cutting them loose.

One can make the argument that they’re just supporting poor working stiffs, but that kinda goes to the heart of economic sanctions. They are the modern [_chevauchée_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevauch%C3%A9e) of our ostensibly more civilized era. The economic hardship is kinda the point.

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**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanctions-on-russia-for-invading-ukraine/960007/321 "2022-03-20T04:30:54Z")

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> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> It is more plausibly a threat to those companies that haven’t yet pulled out. The companies [listed here in category 5](https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-400-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain) that actually do have substantial Russian exposure/holdings and may find themselves under increasing public/government/stockholder pressure to pull out despite that. Just a little more reason to dig in their heels and resist participating in sanctions.

Hmmm… I have to question some of that list. For example, I noted BNP Paribas on the list (I noticed them because they’re sponsoring the Indian Wells tennis tournament this weekend), but then I found this:

[https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/exclusive-bnp-paribas-bars-russia-based-staff-computer-systems-cyber-attack-2022-03-09/](https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/exclusive-bnp-paribas-bars-russia-based-staff-computer-systems-cyber-attack-2022-03-09/)

> France’s largest bank BNP Paribas has cut off its Russia-based workforce from its internal computer systems…
> 
> BNPP employs fewer than 500 people in Russia, … and has been gradually reducing its presence there, exiting retail banking in 2012 and consumer finance in 2020.
> 
> A BNPP spokesperson said it was one of the “least active” international banks in Russia but it complied strictly with all international sanctions decided by the European Union and other governments.

So why are they in Category 5? It sounds like they’re winding down operations there (if their employees can’t access the company network, how are they doing business?).

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