Responding to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, the international community is bombarding ordinary Russians with sanctions.

Putin and his loyal oligarchs will never bear the full brunt of these measures. While some sanctions rightfully target the Kremlin, others penalize anyone and anything remotely connected to Russia. Russian airlines have been banned from U.K. and EU airspace. The United States and the European Union have imposed restrictions on Russian banks, including bank accounts held by Russian nationals in Europe. And the list goes on. In theory, sanctions are designed to weaken Putin by pressuring the Russian people to demand change. In reality, however, broad sanctions of this nature have a remarkably poor track record of success.