How does Upwork show itself in this situation.

[okaliart]

 We citizens of Russia and Belarus have woken up in a new reality in which hatred and anger flies from all sides, even if you explain to everyone 24/7 that you did not choose this regime, Putin is not your close friend. Now they have also arrived from the most environmentally friendly and tolerant site (as I thought until recently) look at the main page of the community, here we see racial diversity, but at the same time they set us a condition, leave your home or you will not have a job. You support the LGBT community, support military veterans and are so cruel to the ordinary people of Russia and Belarus, the DPR and the LPR. This is an infringement of our rights as people, we did not choose this war, we are for peace, but no one hears us, neither our government, nor you.

[anlaszpen]

Go out, protest, overthrow your government.

[okaliart]

We all do this, we are arrested and threatened, you cannot understand all this from afar, our struggle

[andriichubko]

Look at Maidan in Ukraine in 2004 and 2013-2014. Ukrainians were arrested, threatened, beaten, and even lost their lives. Still, they protested non-stop during the cold winter for months. And forced the government to change. Now Ukrainians lose their homes and their lives because of other governments, the Russian and Belarus ones. Should only Ukrainians bear the responsibility for these foreign governments' actions, or should the citizens of those respective countries bear it too?

[farag-m-sayed]

Unfortunately, I don’t think protesting and overthrowing governments like in Ukraine or the Middle East recently, could be compared to trying to do the same thing against governments like Russia or China. They have the most superior organized authoritarian power in the world. So, the Russian citizens are also quite helpless victims in this situation.

[andriichubko]

First, I still think it's doable. Second, they could've prevented this earlier.

[farag-m-sayed]

That would be a politics conversation. Either way, I hope politicians would avoid further wars escalation, so stability and safety return to Ukraine and the Russian people soon.

[dmitryupwork]

no, it's your responsibility for your choices, if you think you are right, than why you are asking other to make changes instead of make changes by yourself? may be because you made poor choices and were plain wrong?

[andriichubko]

What changes do you propose I should make? Change autocratic governments of foreign countries? I don't think that's my responsibility. Fight a foreign army that has invaded my country? I'm already doing that.

[dmitryupwork]

the only right change you must do in your situation to save many lives is not fightging, but negotiating, don't get me wrong, you are on a forum, not on the frontline, the change you must make is asking for negotiations, this is the best you can possibly do, also I want to remind you that there are ukranians from LNR and DNR who is involved and is obviously are not from a foreign country

[dmitryupwork]

no, russians and belarusians are not involved in other poor choices, you should ask for negotiations your authorities, it's in your interests in the end

[roberty1y]

With government-imposed sanctions on banks and other financial institutions, I don't think Upwork has any choice in this matter. Payments to or from people in Russia would be impossible.

[okaliart]

This is rather a misconception, the fact is that yes there is a list of sanctioned banks, but there are still banks that still accept transfers through the SWIFT system

[folia]

Exactly, more than 300 banks in fact.. And Payoneer system. Obviously it's a payment methods deal at all..

[alexgorlova]

Actually, we still have withdrawal options. We have hundreds of banks, only some of them have been sanctioned. This is a huge misunderstanding.

[jennifervh]

In addition to the sanctions, it is generally a volatile financial situation with changes every day. Some banks are closing operations in Russia anyway - Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are some big ones. I can see Upwork's point of view in getting ahead of this (if that is what they're doing).

I do wish Hayden Brown would give a more thorough explanation, or an interview on the news or something, regarding the thought process that has gone into this decision. Whether it is practical - the difficulty of operating under such a volatile situation, or ideological - that western businesses closing shop will pressure Russia and/or contribute to less revenue funding Russia's attack, or some combination of the two. Even if Upwork itself closing in Russia doesn't individually make a difference, I wonder if the collective action of so many businesses closing in Russia might bring pressure.

[dmitryupwork]

It's not one-sided measure, actually it's not the Russia who is under pressure, but civilians, Russian authorities can now do what they want to, like nationalisation of companies that are going to leave their business in Russia or paying debt in by russians frozen actives and other actions. Honestly, I can't see how it's a pressure on Russia, it's on civilians, not to mentions gas and oil sanctions that are backfired.

[folia]

Do you, guys, realise that a huge part of freelancers are women with kids and disabled people who can't find an office job? So do you really think that they must go fighting with the government?

[okaliart]

Namely, people for whom it was the only chance to help their loved ones. Everyone is now collecting help for the affected Ukrainians, this is a great impulse, I do it too, but at the same time, no one talks about the population of Russia and Belarus, who also need help, at least in order not to finish us off

[roberty1y]

If it's still possible for Upwork to process all possible financial transactions with Russia, then I definitely think it's wrong for it to stop doing business there. Life is hard enough as it is for Russian workers, even without the war. But we have no say in these matters.

[alexgorlova]

Hello everyone!

Dear Upwork! Please reconsider your decision regrading Russian and Belarus customers!

I am a Russian translator, editor and writer. I have been working on Upwork since 2017.

Upwork is my main source of income. But this not only about money. In fact, I have always been grateful to have such an amazing opportunity. To communicate with clients from all over the world. To take part in great projects. To grow as a professional and develop my skills. To build my reputation within the international community. To make my own contribution to important projects.

Unfortunately, I am going to lose everything I have been working on so hard. Upwork has really been my sense of purpose. I am losing it, and can do almost nothing about it, which is making my heart break. This is especially sad, because we did not choose it. None of us wanted the whole situation to happen. I do think that we are innocent people, who cannot change anything. All I can really do is to ask you not to limit our right to work here, and hope to be heard. We just want to live our ordinary lives. But everyone is abandoning us one by one.

I believe that everyone in this world deserves a chance to improve their lives, provide for their families, get access to the job they love so much. All I feel now is that this is unfair. Not only for me, but also for thousands of freelancers from Russia and Belarus, as well as our clients who support us. I am desperately looking for words that would be able to express the entire sorrow we all feel, but this is almost impossible to find the right ones.

While I cannot directly influence the Upwork's decision, I hope it will eventually change. I hope that justice will be done, and we will be able to return to the platform and continue our humble path.

Thanks,

Alexandra G., Upwork Top-Rated Freelancer

[scumtronone]

Hi Alexandra. I am from Russia. I regularly watch the speeches of the U.S. government. And I can tell you that UpWork will not lift the restrictions. The U.S. government makes it clear that the sanctions will continue until the regime in the country changes and Putin and his entourage are punished. The whole world has turned its back on us. And believe me, there's a reason for that. Ukraine is now suffering from war, we will suffer from an economic disaster in the country. I'm very sorry to say this. But no one will help us in this situation.

[dmitryupwork]

the whole world is suffering from an economic disaster, actually, people on this forum are giving their support to us and I thank them all in this dark times

[scumtronone]

That's not what I mean. I wrote it very wrong. I mean the outgoing companies and the sanctions that raise questions

[andriichubko]

I'm sorry for all of the "innocent" people who lost access to their income from Upwork because of this. Maybe some of you actively opposed your governments. Or at least voted for other candidates. But all these sanctions and bans are targeted to hurt your countries' economies and their ability to wage war right now. And to make sure that it won't happen again in the future. The more people see the consequences of these events, the more people would be proactive in avoiding such situations in the future.

As you wrote, the justice will be done when the war stops. When amends are made. And then you will be able to return to the platform and continue your humble path. Until then, we all have to bear the responsibility for our governments' actions. That's just how the world works.

Also, you can change things. You've just been taught that you can't. If hundreds of thousands of people voice their disagreement, it won't be possible to ignore it.