Moscow, 27 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian entrepreneurs on Monday that he intends to block the services of Western IT companies that have left Russia.

"They must be restricted," Putin, 72, said at the meeting, according to a statement published by the Kremlin. The West wants to strangle Russia, so it must retaliate in kind, the Russian leader said. He also promised protective measures for other industries.

His comments come after a Russian IT manager complained about billions in losses for domestic technology companies. The sector is reportedly suffering because Russians continue to rely heavily on platforms like Zoom or Microsoft.

Putin pledged to "free citizens from their bad habits." He also criticized foreign virtual trading platforms as a "hole" through which all kinds of goods are imported into Russia.

Russia has already throttled the internet speed of many foreign online services. For example, Russians can hardly use YouTube without a virtual private network (VPN), as videos take too long to load. At the same time, Russia is developing its own video platform, RUTube.

Facebook and Instagram, which are both owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta company, have also been classified as extremist since the start of the war and are therefore blocked. Authorities have already blocked many major VPN providers to prevent Russians from bypassing restrictions and surfing the internet freely.

Russia started its war against Ukraine in February 2022.

Photo: EPA archive