The pressure being put on Russia continues to escalate today and the official government sanctions against Putin and his cronies by various countries are quickly being overshadowed by the “unofficial” sanctions coming from private business interests. Many international corporations are joining the pile-on in this wave of economic warfare, refusing to do business with any Russian entities until Putin abandons his invasion of Ukraine. The latest two entrants onto the field of virtual combat are very large names indeed. Both UPS and FedEx have suspended deliveries to all locations in the country. If that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, stop and consider the sheer volume of both commerce and personal delivery service that they handle from all around the world.

In the private sector, FedEx and UPS announced they were suspending shipments to Russia, further isolating Russia’s economy from the rest of the world.

The moves came as Ukraine agreed to talks with Russian officials in neighboring Belarus, after initially rejecting the idea, while Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert.

In a service alert published last night, UPS said that they would be arranging for free returns of any packages currently in process to the sender, if possible. That’s nice of them.

Both companies had already suspended incoming and outgoing shipments for Ukraine. This was done in an effort to keep their drivers and delivery people safe, which is understandable. But suspending business with all locations in Russia can’t be written off in the same way. The companies’ statements seemed to try to steer away from anything political, but this latest move seems rather obvious. Making pickups or deliveries in the vast majority of Russia is no more or less safe than it was a week ago. This seems to clearly be a move designed to punish Russia.

So why is this important? The broad economic sanctions and blocks being placed on Russian banking and financial institutions certainly affect everyone in the country in some fashion. (Russians have been making a run on the country’s banks today.) But it’s the wealthy oligarchs who are hit the hardest. But losing access to UPS and FedEx hammers the “little people” who need to have their deliveries made on time and stay in touch with both loved ones and business associates.

I still get the impression that Putin wants to pretend that the official sanctions aren’t bothering him and he won’t bow to that sort of pressure. But if he totally loses the faith and trust of the people of Russia – and even more so, the military – then he is in serious trouble. The military could take him out unilaterally and a large enough revolt among his people could result in more protesters than even the infamous Russian jails and labor camps can hold. There could also come a point where law enforcement would refuse to follow his commands and lock up the protesters.

In the meantime, if you had any packages waiting to go to Moscow, you’ll want to put them back in the closet for a while. And it may be a long wait unless Putin comes to his senses quickly.