Read this news report on Russia from Courtney B.

Russia
Courtney B.

04/01/2022

Because of Putin’s decision to lead his country into war, Russia’s potential is being set back by decades. As the war progresses, the young, educated, and creative are fleeing Russia. The emigrants explain that they feel helpless to stop their president, and that they feel as though they have no future in a country that has been rejected by the outside world. The brain-drain was so great that flights to more than 30 countries were stopped, the trains to Finland were full, and many Russians were left with no choice but to flee to Georgia (where they don’t need a visa) or through Gulf States. A number are even applying for political asylum in the United States.

Despite the overwhelming number of young, intelligent people fleeing Russia, polls indicate that the majority of Russians support Putin’s war against Ukraine. However, the validity of these numbers needs to be questioned. Most Russians get their news exclusively from Russian government television stations, so the information they receive is biased towards Putin. Furthermore, police have been known to detain those who outwardly protest the war. In fact, anyone who publicly contradicts any information about the war faces up to fifteen years in prison. So, when confronted by a pollster, Russians know exactly what they must say to protect themselves and their families from the government’s wrath.

The impact of the war spreads further than the borders of both Russia and Ukraine, though. One such example is in Putin’s recent threat to shut off natural gas supplies to Europe. Putin demanded that all unfriendly nations pay for their energy using rubles (Russian currency) or risk being cut off. The deadline he demanded for this switch was today, April 1st. Because Europe gets about 40% of its natural gas from Russia, this ultimatum could have huge consequences on their economy. Some countries, like Germany, have already begun the first stage of their crisis management plans. However, regardless of the plan, any significant loss of Russian natural gas supplies would likely tip the European economy into a recession. Europe responded by refusing to pay in rubles. They refused to be blackmailed by Putin, and demanded that he respect the existing terms of their legal contract, which states no obligation to pay in rubles. Though gas still seems to be flowing just fine for Europe, Russia claims that by the end of the month of May repercussions will begin arising as that’s when payment is due for the gas that currently flows.

Works Cited
Schmemann, Serge. “Putin ‘Just Threw Over the Chess Board,’ and Russians Feel Shame and Dismay.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/opinion/putin-history-russians.html Links to an external site..

Thompson, Mark. “Europe Rejected Putin's Ultimatum. So Why Is Russian Gas Still Flowing?” CNN Business, CNN, 1 Apr. 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/04/01/business/russia-gas-ruble-ultimatum-explainer/index.html Links to an external site..

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