Russia is now as closed off to the world as the Soviet Union was before Mikhail Gorbachev made his first tentative steps towards glasnost more than 40 years ago. Pretty much all the progress that post-Soviet Russia had made towards becoming a ‘normal’ country has been reversed within the space of two weeks. Vladimir Putin’s presumed legacy – of stability, predictability and hugely improved living standards for the vast majority of Russians – is vanishing before their eyes.
In recent days, Netflix and TikTok have joined what had already become a mass western boycott of Russia. American Express followed Barclaycard and Mastercard in leaving the Russian market. Western supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, are pulling out; fashion chains such as Zara and Mango have closed, and – perhaps most emblematic of all – the Swedish household and furniture giant, Ikea, has shut the doors of its 17 stores across Russia.
Almost all independent news has now collapsed. Access to Twitter and Facebook has been banned.
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