Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a crackdown on Western tech companies still active in Russia, saying the country must “strangle” their presence in response to what he described as Western attempts to “strangle” Russia.
His remarks followed a Kremlin meeting on Monday where Russian businessman Stanislav Yodkovsky claimed that platforms like Microsoft and Zoom are still in use, despite many Western firms having exited the Russian market following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Yodkovsky, who runs a domestic videoconferencing company, argued that lingering Western services are costing Russian firms billions and urged action to limit their operations. Putin agreed, stating: “We must respond in kind. I say it openly—strangle them. Just like they try to strangle us.”
Microsoft began reducing its presence in Russia in 2022, ceasing license renewals and limiting access to cloud services. Zoom also restricted use by state-owned entities and was fined in 2023 for failing to establish a local office.
Putin emphasized the need for Russians to end their reliance on Western tech, calling it a “bad habit.” He added that any company hoping to return to the Russian market would only be welcomed if their business aligned with Russia’s national interests. According to a Yale School of Management study, while around 1,000 firms have scaled back beyond what sanctions require, some U.S. companies, such as Cloudflare and Patreon, still operate without significant changes.
