Russia has reportedly seized more than $100 million from Google and used the money to fund a propaganda campaign supporting President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Get Court Documents British newspaper The Telegraph According to the report, Google’s bank accounts in Russia were emptied shortly after the invasion two years ago and the tech giant’s Russian unit went bankrupt.
The seized cash was transferred to Russian state broadcasters such as RT and Tsargrad, which promised to use the funds to support the war effort.
Last week, Google filed lawsuits in both US and UK courts against RT, Tsargrad and another Russia-based broadcaster, NFPT.
A Russian court has ordered Google to pay large sums of money to three TV stations as compensation for removing them from YouTube and deleting their Google accounts in compliance with sanctions against Moscow.
In a court filing last week, Google said Russia had “imposed unprecedented fines and arbitrary legal penalties against Google in an attempt to restrict access to information on our services and as punishment for complying with international sanctions against Russian individuals and entities.”
“Despite the judgment amounting to less than $12.5 million at the time, bailiffs seized more than $100 million in Google Russia assets,” Google said in a court filing.
“Tsargrad took the 1 billion rubles of the seized money and said it would use it to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Google wants the court to stop three Russian broadcasters from going after its assets in South Africa, Turkey and Serbia.
Csargrad is suing Google in Turkey, claiming the US-based tech giant owes the company $360 million.
The Russian court ruled that the fines would double every 24 hours, and the total could exceed Google’s market capitalization.
As of Monday, Google’s parent company had a market capitalization of $2.5 trillion, making it the fourth-most valuable company in the world after Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.
The Washington Post has reached out to Google and the Russian government for comment.
