Have they ever had the opportunity to leave Russia? Are they physically shackled, or disabled and dependent on others for mobility? It could cost them everything, to leave Russia behind for principle or conscience.

That's one choice. Another is to engage in non-violent protest, risking freedom and retaliation against friends and loved ones.

There are various forms of violent resistance, too, sabotaging or attacking Putin and his oppression machine.

Choosing to try to wait things out, not actively removing yourself, or not trying to remove Putin is cooperation and enablement. The average Russian citizen bears responsibility for allowing and enabling Putin to abuse power. They were born into it, having that responsibility forced on them whether they wanted it or not.

By collaborating, you're stuck with accepting the consequences. Even if you had no other choice than to refuse doing anything at all (and I'm not saying I or anyone else could or would choose any differently than most Russians. It's tragically unfair and nobody deserves that. )

There's also the propaganda issue. Otherwise ethical and intelligent Russians are in information silos, unaware of the greater context and facts surrounding the invasion and atrocities being waged by Putin.

All of the choices they have before and behind them might be awful, but they are still choices with consequences. Namecheap and other companies and people have chosen to not enable or condone or collaborate. They know the consequences fall on regular people, but not inconveniencing average Russians is an insufficient reason to continue collaborating with Putin.

The Russian people do not deserve this. They don't deserve to be tainted with the slaughter of Ukrainians and the insanity of Putin. Their history is terrible and tragic, and their people have been smashed down repeatedly, and I deeply believe they're entitled to better.

Unfortunately that's not something outsiders can do for you. Sometimes horrible things happen to good people, but when a tyrant like Putin lashes out, those of us on the outside can choose to refuse any dealings with the country he's taken over. The cost of continuing to do business with Russia is accepting responsibility for collaboration, for enabling Putin to continue abusing his power. No profit is worth that.

Most of us know we are lucky, in the west, that we were born into a world where our ancestors and predecessors paid the price for freedom from tyranny. Through no effort of our own we have the privilege of more choices than others in the world - it's a cosmic fluke. Through freedom of speech and association, we also know why our systems are important, that they offer societies the ability to correct mistakes, and our collective accountability moderates the way we behave towards other countries.

I wish the best for Russians, and I hope the situation rapidly turns around, that their countrymen seize freedom and live their best lives. I hope they can see why some of us can't do business with Russia in good conscience until Putin falls or fails. I truly hope the pointless loss of lives ends, for the sake of both Ukraine and Russia.

In some ways, the greatest tragedy here is that Putin has violently usurped the freedom of his people, and is wasting their lives for his own pride and greed.