I am not a Russian citizen, but I had my IT projects aimed at Russian speakers. Yesterday I've noticed that Stripe declines all transactions from cards issued in Russian Federation and Belarus. My business has been killed.
And that really sucks. You have my sympathy.<p>However, these sanctions are being enacted to stop more PEOPLE from being killed. Dead businesses are unfortunate, but acceptable collateral damage compared to human life.
I, as I am sure is <i>most</i> of HN, is saddened to hear of your loss<p>However, as others have pointed-out, this isn't about <i>YOU</i> - this is about a nation-state unilaterally deciding that it should attempt to <i>DESTROY</i> a neighbor for the sake of a few natural resources and a slightly larger buffer between it and other [what its leader thinks are] "enemy"/"hostile" nations
Can you adapt the products to other languages/regions? It could go a long way towards diversifying your sources of income. The sanctions won't last forever anyways, meaning there's a good chance that investment could pay off in the end.
"Killing" your business (actually, at the end of the war your customers will be back; hopefully you can coast on without income and with reduced costs) is not only collateral damage but part of the sanctions: it hurts Russian citizens and businesses, and their friends.
I'm sorry to hear this.<p>When I worked in manufacturing environments, especially defense related ones, we had policies in place to ensure the reliability of our supply chain, but we didn't have anything in place to verify the reliability of our clients (other than credit, obviously). For example, we would verify the country of origin for purchased materials, but we never tracked where the final products wound up.<p>It is an interesting problem for sure. At least you can be flattered knowing that your work is being used as incentive; a weapon... and that it's working.
Would it be possible for you to contact your customers and agree on a credit system? No finances being moved (because of the war) but you'll keep a track of their charges and after the war settle up. This will be difficult on your side, but if you have access to a business loan will allow you to entirely withstand the sanctions at only a ~8-14% loss if the war lasts an entire year. ~1-2% if only a few months.<p>Sad news, but in perspective this will always happen. It's one reason why businesses have so much interest in what their government is doing.
Political gamble. Like all gambles they can pay big or not. It’s not like the world situation for the last 5-10 years makes Ukraine a surprise. If you want to minimize risk, don’t buy junk bonds…