The story of the "digital blockade" imposed by Ukraine on Russia
With the start of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian government relied on technology as a new weapon in the battle to defend the country alongside the armed resistance, and succeeded in imposing a "digital siege" on Moscow and isolating it from the global economy and the Internet.
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, assigned this task to Mikhailo Fedorov, the deputy prime minister and the youngest member of the government.
To achieve Russia's isolation, Fedorov, a former tech entrepreneur, used a mixture of social media, cryptocurrency, and other digital tools, according to Al-Hurra.
On social media, Fedorov lobbied Apple, Google, Netflix, PayPal and others to stop doing business in Russia.
He also set up a team of volunteer hackers to wreak havoc on Russian websites and online services.
His ministry has also set up a cryptocurrency fund that has raised more than $60 million for the Ukrainian military.
Fedorov told the New York Times that his goal was to create a "digital blockade" and make life unpleasant and uncomfortable for Russian citizens to refuse this war.
He also praised companies that have pulled out of Russia, but said that Apple, Google and others could move forward with steps such as closing their app stores entirely in Russia.
He stressed that the technological and commercial blockade "is an integral part of stopping the aggression."
"We believe that as long as the Russians are silent, they are complicit in the aggression and murder of our people," Fedorov said.
The American newspaper pointed out that Fedorov’s work is not the only reason behind the withdrawal of multinational companies such as Meta and McDonald’s from Russia, as the human losses caused by the war in the world of terror and anger prompted these companies to withdraw, and the economic sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others played a central role in isolating Russia.
In many cases, the Russian government cut itself off from the world when Moscow blocked Facebook and Twitter.
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