It was one of the most anticipated movements and, finally, it has happened: Microsoft has announced that it is suspending all its sales of products and services in Russiaand which also stops a large part of its operations in the country, thus responding both to the sanctions imposed by Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, and to the resounding response that Vladimir Putin’s government is receiving in the face of its aggression against Ukraine .
ANDhe announcement of the suspension has been made on the Microsoft blog, and is signed by Brad Smith, president of the companywhich begins by stating that Microsoft also finds «horrified, angry and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and we condemn this unwarranted, unprovoked and illegal invasion by Russia«, a position taken that had already been previously referred to by the company, but which now materializes in concrete measures.
Thus, the president of Microsoft affirms that all sales of new products and services in the aggressor country are suspended, and that Microsoft is simultaneously in talks with the governments of the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, in order to determine which areas of activity of the company in Russia will also be suspendedin compliance with the various sanctions that are being imposed on Russia by different governments and supranational entities.
This is not the only way that Microsoft has been involved in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Let’s remember that it was those from Redmond who sounded the alert about FoxBladea malware that would have its origin in Russia and that would have been deployed in order to attack strategic sectors of Ukraine, a few hours before the invasion of Ukrainian territory by Russian military units began.
«Our most impactful area of work is almost certainly Ukraine cybersecurity protection. We continue to work proactively to help cybersecurity officials in Ukraine defend against Russian attacks, including the most recent attack on a major Ukrainian broadcaster.» states Smith in the blog, confirming that Microsoft’s collaboration with the Ukrainian authorities regarding cybersecurity remains a top priority for you.
Additionally, Microsoft also joined, a few days ago, to the veto of the contents published by RT (Russia Today) and the Sputnik news agency, two Russian communication channels that, according to Western intelligence, are used by the Kremlin for the dissemination of political propaganda outside its borders. Consequently, and just as Google would have done, the contents of these sources would no longer be displayed in Microsoft’s online services.
And the involvement of Microsoft does not stop there, which states that it has also launched other work units of the company to collaborate actively with the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), various UN agencies and various NGOs to provide assistance to the thousands of refugees caused by the war so far.
With the addition of Microsoft to the rest of the technology companies that have already suspended their activities with Russia, The technological siege of the Putin government tightens every daylaying the foundations so that, if the conflict drags on and international pressure measures are maintained, Russia’s technological position may decline considerably, which in turn may influence multiple aspects of the activities and the development of the country.
