Ukrainian citizens and government officials have called for a Russian visa ban for Russians visiting the European Union, reciprocating Russia’s ban on European travelers in April.
Though there has been much pushback from Central European leaders and Russian netizens, the growing momentum of the plan has brought further attention to the lack of restrictions placed on Russian citizens during the war in Ukraine. Despite sanctions, Russia’s population has continued to support the war while enjoying privileges unbefitting of a nation engaged in a war of conquest. Though some have made attempts to discern between actions that impact the Russian government and citizenry, the line between both has been increasingly gray. Large-scale protests against the war have largely died out, and individual acts of resistance are sparse compared to the earlier months of turmoil.
The argument that Russian citizens should not be punished according to economic and travel measures cannot be made while Ukrainian citizens are dealt lethal military force in a war a growing number of nations have considered ‘genocidal’ in nature. As more Western aid, including a new American military package, and ongoing efforts in southern Ukraine intensify, effective measures are needed to ensure that the war in Ukraine’s enablers in Russia are dealt the same hand they have forced upon Europe.
World Affairs International 