Plugging the Leaks
The rationale appeared flawless: Russia was poised to profit handsomely from the emergence of the global economy from the clutches of the covid pandemic, so when it decided that instead of enjoying the economic bonanza it would prefer to invade Ukraine, what could be more effective to punish the Kremlin (and its sidekick Belarus) than to negate any potential windfall by slapping on it a massive array of sanctions to strangle its economy?