On the other side of the planet, as Ukrainian keep on fighting with the Russian invaders, Russian cats and breeders are now banned from attending any international competitions.
Fédération Internationale Féline, also known as FIFe is a federation of cat registries that are currently active in 40 countries. According to The Washington Post “International Cat Federation bans Russian cats from competitions” by Jennifer Hassan.
On February 24, president of Russia Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine because Russia does not feel safe because of how close Ukraine are with The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s members according to The New York Times “The Roots of the Ukraine War: How the Crisis Developed” by Dan Bilefsky, Richard Pérez-Peña, and Eric Nagourney. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance that provides protection to their allies. Russia believes that if Ukraine joins NATO there will be an expansion of control over Europe by the United States which will be a threat to their country.
According to NBC News “International Cat Federation bans Russian felines from competitions” by Marlene Lenthang, Russian cats are now unqualified for any types of international competition due to their country’s “unprecedented act of aggression.” FIFe claimed that starting this week, any cats that are bred in Russia will no longer be allowed for import or register with FIFe that are outside the Russia and no Russian cats will be allowed to show up in any FIFe shows. Still, the group also mentioned that the new regulations will last till May 31 and will have a review if necessary.
FIFe states that the Executive Board is “shocked and horrified”, and they cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing because of the Russia invasion. FIFe also said the board will now pull out a part of the budget to support cat breeders and fanciers in Ukraine.
Since cats in Russia are now being punished, people that live in Russia are also being punished. On February 26, western countries decided to put the “financial nuke” on Russia as a way to stop the Russian’s aggression. According to CBC News “How expelling Russia from SWIFT could impact the country. And why there’s reluctance to do so” by Mark Gollom, SWIFT is the acronym for the Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The Belgian-based co-operative is used by thousands of financial institutions in over 200 countries, including Russia, and provides a secure messaging system to facilitate cross-border money transfers. Without SWIFT, Russians will no longer be able to make any international transactions which will cause a mass amount of capital outflow.
Russian gamers are also facing a situation as the sanction goes. Electronic Arts and CD Projekt RED stated on their official website saying they will no longer sell any of their content and games in Russia and Belarus. War is already hard enough for the people, now Russians won’t be able to entertain themselves through video games from these two companies.
Sanction surely is a big hit on Russia, but does it actually make the Russian’s government suffer or Russians are the one that suffer the most. As the sanction keeps on going, the Russians are the ones that suffer the most, yet the Russian government does not suffer as much as their people. The world hopes to see a period of this war between Ukraine and Russia as soon as possible and have great negotiations to achieve the best outcome for both Ukraine and Russia.
Sources:
International Cat Federation bans Russian felines from competitions
International Cat Federation bans Russian cats from competitions
Russian cats banned from international competition
Fédération Internationale Féline wiki
How expelling Russia from SWIFT could impact the country. And why there’s reluctance to do so
Electronic Arts official statement on Russia and Belarus
CD Projekt RED official Statement on Russia and Ukraine Situation
Why is Russia invading Ukraine and what does Putin want?