As the Russia and Ukraine conflict has progressively unfolded and gotten worse throughout the past few weeks, countries around the globe have begun to distance themselves from Russia. Many aspects of the world have decided to take a breather on Russian interactions, such as the world of games, dance, music, etc. 

For instance, in the world of sports teams and organizations around the world have begun to cut ties to anything Russian. There was a relocation of the UEFA Champions League. This soccer showpiece was supposed to take place in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on May 28. Since the invasion, the event has been moved from St. Petersburg to Paris in the Stade de France. Furthermore, Bundesliga, a German soccer club, has removed a Russian oil giant from its jerseys. The front of FC Schalke 04’s jerseys read “GAZPROM,” as it was their Russian sponsor since 2007. Manchester United, of the United Kingdom, has also followed the same trend. The soccer giant has recently abandoned its Russian airline sponsor known as Aeroflot. Numerous other soccer federations in Europe have concluded that they will not be playing any games in Russia until further notice. 

The F1 Russian Grand Prix has been completely canceled for this year. The race was originally supposed to take place in Sochi, Russia. Sebastian Vettel, four-time world champion, stated that he would not go to the race even if they had not canceled. This prompted Formula One to completely cancel the race. Another Formula One team, Haas, has made a move in a similar direction. The team was sponsored by a Russian sponsor, Uralkali. The team’s car design was solely based on this. The logo of the sponsor was removed from the side of its car, along with the colors of the Russian flag on the front. This all occurred during its last day of testing in Barcelona as it prepared for the upcoming season.  

Outside of the world of sports, other signs of distancing can be seen around the world. A major chess tournament was canceled due to its location being in Russia. Hollywood is refusing to show any new movies that are in theaters to those in Russia.

As conflicts continue within Russia and Ukraine, fear around the globe continues to grow larger by the day.