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Russia invades Ukraine: the latest news on connectivity, cryptocurrency, and more

On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded areas of Ukraine near its northern, eastern, and southern borders. It&rsquo;s a significant military action that could have alarming consequences, and more than 500,000 people had reportedly fled from Ukraine to neighboring countries by February 28th.
Tech companies responded to the crisis in various ways, with a focus on trying to reduce online misinformation and avoid putting Ukrainians in danger. Google disabled Maps traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens, for example, while Facebook removed a Russian misinformation network. But Russia has blocked Twitter and partially blocked Facebook. And there have been internet outages in Ukraine that have sparked concerns about the possibility of attacks on Ukraine&rsquo;s internet infrastructure.
Read on for our latest coverage of the crisis.

Tech companies have responded, but so has Russia.

Telegram is reportedly being slowed down and restricted in Russia

Report claims Ubiquiti’s gear serves “a critical communications need of the Russian military, including in drone operations.”

Russia’s ‘national messenger’ app Max must be preinstalled on new devices soon.

France accuses Russia of a decade’s worth of high-profile cyberattacks

Meta bans RT “for foreign interference activity.”

Telegram says CEO has ‘nothing to hide’ after being arrested in France

Google cuts off Russian advertiser accounts.

House Democrats are looking into Russia’s alleged Starlink use.

Apple delists podcast that the Russian government wanted blocked.

Russian “rebellion” attempt ends with a post on Telegram.

Russian ISPs cut off access to Google News as Putin responds to “armed rebellion.”

National Guard member arrested for leaking classified documents on Discord

Microsoft sold software to sanctioned Russian companies, says US government

Mark Hamill voices air raid warnings in Ukraine as Luke Skywalker

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s Ukrainian developer is being blackmailed by pro-Russian hackers

Ukraine nets 10,000 additional Starlink terminals, claims funding issues are ‘resolved’

SpaceX almost doubles its current Starlink prices in Ukraine

What on earth is going on with Elon Musk and Ukraine?

Apple removes Russia’s largest social network from the App Store

Russia is starting to beat Ukraine at electronic warfare, analysts say

Russia fines Google $365 million over YouTube videos containing ‘prohibited’ content

Google’s Russian branch plans to file for bankruptcy

Remote lockouts reportedly stop Russian troops from using stolen Ukrainian farm equipment

DJI is halting all shipments to Russia and Ukraine to slow weaponization of drones

They’ve leaked terabytes of Russian emails, but who’s reading?

Ukraine says it stopped a Russian cyberattack on its power grid

Microsoft seized Russian domains targeting Ukrainian media organizations

Hacking group posted fake Ukrainian surrender messages, says Meta in new report

Russia says it will suspend ISS cooperation unless sanctions are lifted

Fortnite raised $144 million for Ukraine relief

Russian regulator says it will fine Google over Ukraine war videos

Russia’s Yandex lays off two dozen US-based workers from its robot and self-driving teams

Apple Pay closes loophole that allowed Russian users to pay with Mir cards

Spotify is suspending its services in Russia

Russian military reportedly hacked into European satellites at start of Ukraine war

After ‘protestware’ attacks, a Russian bank has advised clients to stop updating software

Russian court upholds ban on ‘extremist’ Facebook and Instagram

Fortnite has already raised $36 million for Ukraine relief

Russia denies cosmonauts wore yellow in support of Ukraine

Epic is donating two weeks of Fortnite proceeds to Ukraine relief

Russian pipeline company Transneft hit by data leak dedicated to Hillary Clinton

“We don’t live in a research bubble”

Ukraine legalizes cryptocurrency as it receives millions in crypto donations

A phone relay capture may be the latest of Russia’s communications woes in Ukraine

Researchers find new destructive wiper malware in Ukraine

Russia bans Instagram as promised, blocking access for 80 million users

Sony pulls Crunchyroll, home entertainment releases from Russia

Russia will ban Instagram on March 14th

Russia threatens Instagram ban in response to Meta allowing violent threats against soldiers

Facebook allows posts with violent speech toward Russian soldiers in specific countries

PlayStation is suspending all hardware and software shipments in Russia

Amazon’s block on Russia suspends shipments, Prime Video streaming, and New World MMO purchases

A tech executive is privately funding hundreds of soldiers to fight for Ukraine

Nintendo delays Advance Wars reboot citing ‘recent world events’

Another US internet backbone provider is shutting down services in Russia

Instagram is hiding followers for private accounts in Russia and Ukraine

Ukraine and US targeted by cybersecurity attacks in run-up to Russian invasion

Ubisoft and Take-Two are also blocking game sales in Russia

Netflix shuts down its services in Russia

TikTok temporarily bans new video creation in Russia

Visa and Mastercard suspend their services in Russia

Activision Blizzard and Epic Games halt sales of games in Russia

PayPal pauses service in Russia, citing ‘violent military aggression’

Internet backbone provider shuts off service in Russia

Snapchat turns off public ‘heatmap’ for Ukraine

Facebook won’t let Russian advertisers create or run ads ‘anywhere in the world’

TikTok plans to add labels to ‘some’ state-controlled media

Samsung has stopped shipping products to Russia

Russia’s Yandex ‘pauses’ autonomous vehicle testing in the US

Nintendo gamers in Russia just got locked out of digital game purchases

Russia says it’s blocking Facebook in alarming new censorship push

EA is halting sales of its games in Russia and Belarus

Microsoft pulls the plug on ‘new’ sales of products and services in Russia

Battle at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant raises global alarm

Google pauses all ad sales in Russia ‘in light of the extraordinary circumstances’

BBC resurrects WWII-era shortwave broadcasts as Russia blocks news of Ukraine invasion

Telecoms blackout hits northeast Ukraine; large power outages also reported

Reddit sides with Ukraine, bans all links to Russia’s state-sponsored RT and Sputnik

Anonymous-linked group hacks Russian space research site, claims to leak mission files

Wikimedia says it ‘will not back down’ after Russia threatens Wikipedia block

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red cuts off sales in Russia and Belarus

Russia says it will no longer sell rocket engines to the United States

The world’s largest airline ticket-booking service cuts ties with Russia’s Aeroflot

Spotify removes content from Kremlin-backed RT and Sputnik and closes Russia office

Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are at ‘unprecedented’ risk as fighting continues

EA is removing Russian teams from its FIFA and NHL games

Russia holds OneWeb rocket launch hostage, issues conditional demands

How one Ukrainian startup is adapting its app during a time of war

Read Tim Cook’s email to employees on Ukraine

Roku, DirecTV drop Russian-backed RT channel

Apple halts product sales in Russia

Namecheap ends service for Russian customers due to government’s ‘war crimes’

Ukraine engineer talks testing SpaceX’s new Starlink service

Facebook has stopped recommending Russian state media globally

Facebook blocks RT and Sputnik pages in the EU

Elon Musk’s promised Starlink terminals have reached Ukraine

European Space Agency claims joint Russian Mars rover probably won’t launch this year

Facebook removes Russian misinformation network pushing fake news about the war in Ukraine

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