That figure of Russiaās 630 billion $ war chest seems more substantiated, as far as I can tell from the numerous media which quote that number. Apparently it comes from numbers about gold reserves etc that the Central Bank of Russia published itself over the years. One example: ā¢ Chart: Russia's Growing Reserves 'War Chest' | Statista
Edit: One source for the figure of 20 billion per day cost of the war (no idea how reliable it is): Research: āUkraine war costs Russian military ā¬20 billion per dayā. It estimates the cost of lost Russian military equipment and personnel alone at 7 billion in the first 5 days, based on reports of Ukraineās Deputy Defence Minister.
Then again, Iām suprised by how strong global condemnation of Putin and support for Ukraine turned out to be. Iām sure everyone would have expected a much more stoic response, even if they foresaw the invasion.
Well, Brandon Sandersonās kickstarter broke the record for āmost money everā in just 4-5 days and it still has the whole month to go
Writting five extra novels in secret to relieve the stress from the pandemic (he is obviously still āon scheduleā for all his other books) turns out to be profitable , so maybe it is not just 2023 hehehe ā¦
Communication never ceases for real. It may take time, but there is always a way, an invention, a shortcut. Even back when people needed five years to go from one country to the other, news were circulating. Rumours, too, but rumours are invevitable.
I think there will always be a way because people always need information, services, recreation and commerce to be available, one way or another. The information has always been controlled and will always be, but it will exist.
If the āintranetsā become official, it will be a cultural shock to our way of thinking and acting (especially for the younger ones, who never used a paper dictionary or had to wait one week for a tv episode) but it will pass. People always find a way. Also, now that people have travelled and have family and friends everywhere, there is always some piece of information that will get out of the cage.
(Also, communication routes are paramount for black markets, gambling etc, soā¦)
Definitely not happening. It will destroy the IT market here within a week, because the majority of our IT business is done internationally. A huge chunk of it is actually within CIS but a no smaller chunk is directly with the ābig westā like america and eu.
I currently work for an american pharmaceutical megacorporation and within our local branch each team is a mix of russians, ukranians and belarusians. This sort of mix has been the case for me all my career (about 10 years), but despite being a mix, all of it is āhooked upā by russia. If russia is gone from the internet, so will all of CISās IT.
Itās worth mentioning how big of a business it is here. Entry level positions in frontend development earn more than non-IT non-management positions with over 10 years of work experience. Senior positions (6y+ of exp) earn more than everyone else who arenāt entrepreneurs or investors, and actually earn more than a huge chunk of entrepreneurs if you consider the stability of the pay.
If all of that is gone it would be a major hit for the economy. Even just the business alone, not considering the impact the restriction of information and accessibility will have.
Corporations cutting off the russian segment is most likely a direct order of the western rulers who run this propaganda ensemble just so as to cease the opportunity to damage the economy of russia. I say this as a technician and not as a russian.
I donāt think big governments can order around big corporations here. It normally takes court orders and big fines to force big corporations to change policies.
So I think big corporations are doing it for other reasons in this case, such as PR.