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Will YouTube, Google, and Wikipedia be banned in Russia?
Our home in London is very close to Google Headquarters in the UK. It is a modern office center next to King’s Cross and St. Pancras railway stations, opened after a renovation of St. Pancras Square in 2014.
It just so happens that while living in London, I drank my hot chocolate every day in front of the main entrance to Google Headquarters. Watching the carefree employees walking out through the big glass doors for lunch, I wondered each time: did they know what the future held for the company’s Russian division? What will be the fate of Google services in Putin’s Russia?
It was no surprise that no one came up to me and asked the same question. This was totally expected, since the political risks for multinationals like Google are very high and they (should) have a top-notch team of professional experts on staff. This team, however, has not kept the company out of the serious trouble that has already happened to its Russian division since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
In this article, I will share with you some facts and observations on this matter.
