Elsevier sues Russian scientist for publishing papers

> However, academic publishers such as Elsevier say that monetizing these papers brings in vital funding for ongoing academic research, enabling authors and scholarly societies to obtain vital revenue.

There is some truth to that, in that publications in top journals help scientists get funded. But the credibility of top journals depends on pro bono work by editors and reviewers. Also, reputations of top journals go back decades, in some cases centuries. Current owners of academic publishers are just parasites.