Keyboards in many countries rely on a specific layout. And that could be a problem in Russia now. Because officially you can no longer import keyboards into the country.
Various sanctions were imposed on the state of Russia by the West because of the Ukraine conflict. Russia responded with counter-sanctions. Since then, certain products and goods from abroad may no longer be imported into Russia (via capital.de).
But it is precisely this ban that is now making itself felt. Because in Russia you need a Russian layout if you want to work or play on the PC in a meaningful way. And that is slowly but surely becoming more difficult.
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There are fewer and fewer keyboards with a Russian layout
What exactly is the problem? As a Russian company, you are officially no longer allowed to import goods from the USA or Europe to Russia. However, there is an exception, as you can buy limited goods outside of Russia.
A Russian company can only buy goods from dealers in countries where the company itself still operates. A Russian dealer can buy keyboards in Serbia or China and import them to Russia.
But this is exactly where there is a problem: the devices and the keyboards are aimed at the users of the country and in the worst case you have keyboards with a Serbian or Chinese layout.
Russian players are affected by the restrictions as games close their servers in Russia:
Because WoW is no longer playable in Russia, an old game is now bursting at the seams
Why is this a problem? The contracts that Russian government agencies have signed with their employees stipulate that everyone gets a workstation with a keyboard with a familiar Russian layout.
However, when millions of keyboards are imported to Russia via detours and have the wrong layout, this is misleading for many people and hinders work enormously. PCGamer explains that experts estimate that by the end of 2022 more than 10% of all keyboards will not have a Russian layout. And this trend is likely to intensify further.
– Ukraine Live Blog (via Time)
– War in Ukraine: Belarusian troops apparently invaded Ukraine (via nzz)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via Foreign Office)
Important NOTE: If you are plagued by dark thoughts about the current situation: you are not alone. Please get help. For example, with the telephone pastoral care on 0800/111 0 111 or the online pastoral care, where you can also use a chat. It’s free and applies nationwide.
Tricks are used to try to circumvent the layout problem
What is a solution? A pragmatic solution is currently to simply convert the wrong layout into the right layout with a laser engraving. In this way, Serbian or Turkish characters quickly become the correct letters again.
Even large developers and publishers no longer sell their software in Russia. Now the government is considering whether to legalize pirated copies.
Russia Considers Legalizing Pirated Software After Tech Giants Boycott It