Punishing Putin Is More Important Than Ever
You can quantify the death and destruction wrought by Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine in many ways: Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have died, including countless innocent civilians; rebuilding the country will cost at least $486 billion, according to a now-outdated estimate from the World Bank; Russia has suffered an estimated 648,000 casualties, killed and wounded.
What’s harder to measure is the impact of the extraordinary economic counterattack launched by Ukraine’s allies. Never before has a country as large or as integrated in the global financial system been targeted by an international sanctions coalition, one that represents half of the world’s gross domestic product. It was in essence a grand experiment in economic warfare, one that’s still playing out as Ukrainians try to defend their country against a relentless Russian assault..