Russia seized more than $100 million from Google and used the money to fund its own propaganda campaign in support of President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine, according to a report.
Court documents obtained by Britain’s Telegraph newspaper show that Google’s bank accounts in Russia were emptied shortly after the invasion two years ago, leading to the bankruptcy of the tech giant’s Russian division.
The confiscated money was transferred to Russian state channels, including RT and Tsargrad, a network that pledged to use the money to support the war effort.
Last week, Google filed suit against RT, Tsargrad and another Russian-based broadcaster, NFPT, in US and UK courts.
Russian courts ordered Google to pay three TV channels large sums in compensation for the company’s decision to remove them from YouTube and delete their Google accounts to comply with sanctions against Moscow.
In court filings from last week, Google said that Russia “imposed unprecedented fines and arbitrary legal penalties against Google in an effort to limit access to information on our services and as a punishment for our compliance with international sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations.” “.
“Bailiffs seized more than $100 million of Google Russia’s assets, even though the amount allegedly due under the judgment at the time was less than $12.5 million,” Google said in one of the court filings.
“Tsargrad received a billion rubles from the confiscation, which he said he would use to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Google is asking the courts to prevent the three Russian broadcasting entities from pursuing its assets in South Africa, Turkey and Serbia.
Tsargrad has sued Google in Turkey – claiming the US-based tech giant owes him $360 million.
Russian court rulings doubled the penalty every 24 hours – meaning the amount could exceed Google’s market capitalization.
As of Monday, Google’s parent company had a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion — making it the fourth most valuable company in the world behind Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.
The Post has sought comment from Google and the Russian government.
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