Russian authorities took £75 million from Google to fund TV propaganda for Vladimir Putin’s crazed war in Ukraine, new court documents filed by the tech giant claim
Vladimir Putin has plundered $100 million (£75million) from Google to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to new legal documents.
Court filings in the US have revealed how the money was taken from the tech giant’s Moscow bank accounts in 2022 around the time the devastating conflict began – forcing their Russian subsidiary into bankruptcy. Google fully exited the country in October 2023. The money taken by the bailiffs was instead given to state-run Russian TV channels, such as Russia Today and Tsargrad, which have both played a central role in broadcasting propaganda to the population about the two-year war in Ukraine.
It comes after the San Francisco-based firm filed lawsuits against the two broadcasters and the Russian channel NFPT in US and English courts last week. According to the Telegraph, Google said in the US documents: “The bailiffs seized more than $100m of Google Russia’s assets, even though the amount purportedly due under the judgement at the time was less than $12.5m (one billion roubles). Tsargrad received one billion roubles from the seizure, which it said it would use to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
The new case forms part of a wider legal battle playing out around the world, with lawsuits being filed by the Russians against Google in South Africa, Turkey, Serbia and Kyrgyzstan. A South African court found in favour of NFPT in a preliminary court order in June after they sought what they claimed is a debt from Google’s international business.
Russia and Ukraine this week exchanged more than 100 prisoners of war each as Kyiv marked its third Independence Day since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine said the 115 Ukrainian servicemen who were freed were conscripts, many of whom were taken prisoner in the first months of Russia’s invasion. Among them are nearly 50 soldiers captured by Russian forces from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the 115 Russian soldiers had been captured in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched their surprise offensive into Russia two weeks ago. Leaders in Belgorod, Russia, declared a state of emergency as a result of Ukraine’s counter strike, which has reportedly seen more than 200,000 Russians evacuate their homes. Putin’s popularity within Russia has been hit by the incursion, dropping by 3.3% to 73.6% within a fortnight of the beginning of the attack on August 6, according to Kremlin-linked research group VTsIOM.
