Amazon, Google, Windows, and Microsoft Office Leave Russia

Russian aggression towards Ukraine is brutal and unjustified. While the whole international community is looking at the current events in Ukraine with fear, many tech companies provide their support to Ukraine. Tech moguls like Amazon, Google, Office, and Windows announced their decision to temporarily stop their work in Russia.

Although Russian people may not feel sanctions at first, the process deepens with many more favorite companies, software, and game developers leaving the country. The first out was Cinema 4D. Another program that stopped its work is UAV Forecast. One of the major video conferencing apps Zoom has also officially announced its withdrawal from the Russian market.

Russian officials reveal that popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter stop their work too. WhatsApp and YouTube will not be available in Russia within several days. Russian invasion in Ukraine continues to escalate provoking many more sanctions by the global IT community. Meanwhile, many Russians rely on a Russian so-called service named Aurora OS. Yet, experts say it is filled with bugs and gaps. According to them, this system is still too raw and unchecked. There are lots of complaints from Russian users. Many of them share information about being blocked in games. There were users who stated that Americans have banned their Minecraft accounts.

Microsoft was one of the first companies that revealed the decision to stop its activity in Russia. Officials said it is a temporary measure and is the reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Brad Smith, the head of Microsoft said that the company stopped selling every product on the Russian territory. He did not clarify the situation with users who already bought their products and are waiting for the updates.

Do you agree with tech companies' decisions? Do you believe the actions help to hold Russia back? Share your thoughts in the comments.