‘Economic fighters’: the volunteers helping direct sanctions against Russia
The Guardian World
by Aisha DownFebruary 17, 2026
Civil society groups and individuals from around world are working to aid Ukraine by damaging Moscow’s war machine
In August 2022, Olena Yurchenko stumbled across a heated discussion on a Russian-language online forum – and made a discovery that would ultimately affect US and European sanctions policy on the Ukraine war.
The war had begun six months earlier. Yurchenko, 22, had been forced to leave Ukraine for Latvia after Russian strikes on her home town in the north. She had joined a nascent effort to pressure western companies to move their operations out of Russia. But the “name and blame” tactic only went so far, she said.
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Originally published on The Guardian World on 2/17/2026