New hits
Russian authorities started blocking Telegram – a popular online messenger whose founder refused to share encryption keys with the law enforcement. Weeks of blocking attempts resulted in thousands participating in street protests and multiple unrelated online services having connection issues but the messenger is still operational in Russia. That will likely lead to entirely new level of internet control infrastructure development.
New wave of US sanctions against Russian political and business elite included Victor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska who had not been considered part of Putin’s inner circle or direct beneficiaries of his regime. As both were very connected in the West, that sent a mixed message leaving businesspeople in doubts which strategy is safer: distancing from the Kremlin or getting closer with it and minimizing the presence in the West to avoid exposure to sanctions that may be unpredictable or even inevitable.
Yet another influential businessperson in Russia faces years in prison following a dispute about the price for his asset to be sold back to the state. Billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov invested in Uber and Hyperloop One is accused of organized crime and imprisoned as two state-owned companies look to acquire one of his companies while law enforcement believed he was preparing to leave the country.
Although Russians say they closely follow the Western sanctions story development, for the past year they haven’t noticed any impact from them. Four years ago, when the sanctions were first introduced, over half of Russians admitted negative consequences. Most recently, there are more people saying that there are positive outcomes than there are those admitting negative ones.
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