Sanctions Failing. But Ukrainian Attacks Offer Hope
Sanctions get Evaded. Explosions are More Expensive
Economic sanctions are not stopping Russia's war machine. Huge countries, like India and China trade with Russia, without any embargo.
Image from Reuters
Even major European manufacturers that own factories in Russia and supply the Russian war machine are not being sanctioned and forced out of Russia (or out of business).
Screenshot taken of the ZET-Chemie website on Feb 28, 2024.1
Russia’s job is to evade the sanctions placed on it, and they have been quite successful. We have witnessed the rise of the Dark Fleet , a booming trade in Iranian Drone production (itself with products from companies that sanction it), and the use of former Soviet nations like Georgia and Kazakhstan to be middleman for Western imports.
The current hope of meaningful economic penalties for Russia’s war is attacks by Ukrainian covert operatives. Ukrainian forces have demonstrated some capability to strike critical targets, disrupting Russian logistics for criminal exports and needed industrial chemicals. Ukrainian covert operations challenges the Kremlin's objectives directly and now represents the best hope for ‘real’ sanctions.
Fire in St. Petersburg allegedly caused by Ukrainian operatives. Image: Reuters
Article by FinanceAnalysis
This screenshot is celebrating their factory operating industrial lubricants for the Russian military industrial complex after 2014 invasion of Ukraine. This factory is still running, still selling necessary industrial lubricants to the Russian war machine, and still owned by Zet-Chemie in Germany.