TWEAKS AND UPDATES

WIRED: Google’s Russian Empire Faces an Uncertain Future. “In 2021, there were more than 91 million YouTube users in Russia, a country of 144 million people, according to data analytics company Statista. But Google’s commercial empire is crumbling. On March 10, the company announced it would suspend all its paid-for services in Russia due to ‘payment system disruption’ linked to Western sanctions. The same month, Google started relocating staff from its Moscow office to other countries, with many moving to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, according to employees’ LinkedIn profiles. In May, Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy after a court order froze its main bank account.”

The Art Newspaper: Ukraine misses out on UK cultural protection money. “The UK’s Cultural Protection Fund has not got an allocation of money for emergency assistance for Ukraine in the current financial year, The Art Newspaper can disclose…. Although the fund was able to allocate £60,000 for Ukraine in March, no money has been made available in the current financial year, despite the tragic and widespread destruction of heritage buildings and museums which continues unabated.”

Search Engine Land: Yandex CEO and founder resigns following sanctions. “Arkady Volozh, Yandex’s CEO and executive director, resigned from his position, the company announced today. The European Union imposed sanctions on Volozh personally. Yandex has not been sanctioned by the EU, U.S., or UK. Volozh had a 45.3% voting and 8.6% economic interest in Yandex.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

WIRED: Volodymyr Zelensky on War, Technology, and the Future of Ukraine. “In this wide-ranging interview, which has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity, Zelensky called on Big Tech to do more to pull out of Russia, praised Elon Musk’s Starlink, and explained why modern leaders have to appeal to the distracted social media generation. ‘We just live in another time, no longer the time of postmen,’ he said.”

International Business Times: Ukraine Discovers Russian Army’s Propaganda Materials To ‘Achieve Russia’s Goals’ . “Ukrainian officials gained access to several documents where employees of the 5th unit of the Kremlin’s FSB admitted that many Russians still do not understand why the invasion of Ukraine was needed to achieve Russia’s goals. The documents also laid out a plan to justify the war to Russians, including making more propaganda videos.”

Military.com: Meet the Guardsman Helping Ukrainians Blow Up Russian Tanks over the Phone. “Sgt. 1st Class Chris Freymann never thought he’d have such a direct role in the fight against Russian forces invading Ukraine. But as the war raged, he became a kind of ad hoc, over-the-phone tech support for Ukrainians trying to use Javelin missiles while under fire. They messaged with questions; Freymann sent answers. In return, he got photos and videos of the Russian tanks they destroyed.”

Ukrinform: Russia destroyed over 370 cultural heritage sites after 100 days of war – Tkachenko. “Russia has destroyed 370 cultural heritage sites after 100 days of its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko said this at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Associated Press: Deadly secret: Electronic warfare shapes Russia-Ukraine war. “On Ukraine’s battlefields, the simple act of powering up a cellphone can beckon a rain of deathly skyfall. Artillery radar and remote controls for unmanned aerial vehicles may also invite fiery shrapnel showers. This is electronic warfare, a critical but largely invisible aspect of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Military commanders largely shun discussing it, fearing they’ll jeopardize operations by revealing secrets.”

OCCRP: Criminal Proxies Offer ‘Perfect Cover’ for Russian Cyber Offensive. “As the West warns of imminent Russian assaults against critical infrastructure, cybersecurity researchers say the Kremlin is likely to rely on criminal rather than state hackers in launching such attacks.”

The Register: Even Russia’s Evil Corp now favors software-as-a-service. “The Russian-based Evil Corp is jumping from one malware strain to another in hopes of evading sanctions placed on it by the US government in 2019. You might be wondering why cyberextortionists in the Land of Putin give a bit flip about US sanctions: as we understand it, the sanctions mean anyone doing business with or handling transactions for gang will face the wrath of Uncle Sam. Evil Corp is therefore radioactive, few will want to interact with it, and the group has to shift its appearance and operations to keep its income flowing.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Observer Research Foundation: The Russia–Ukraine War: Ukraine’s resistance in the face of hybrid warfare. “Almost everyone expected that the Russian war on Ukraine would feature extensive use of cyber weapons. And so it has, but often in ways that were not quite anticipated. In cyber issues, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. So, we hear a great deal about how Russian tanks have been blown up by American Javelin missiles, or the activities of the Turkish Bayraktar drones, but don’t get too many details about the intense digital war which has played a significant role in shaping the conflict.”

National Academies: International Science Academies Meet in Poland to Explore How to Support Ukrainian Science and Researchers. “Yesterday, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Polish Academy of Sciences brought together leaders from the National Academy of Sciences Ukraine (NASU) and several other national science academies for a meeting in Warsaw to identify concrete actions the international science community can take to support Ukrainian researchers and science capabilities.”

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