According to The Washington Post, Russian agents arrived at the home of a top Google executive in Moscow last September to deliver a terrifying ultimatum.
According to people familiar with the situation, the unnamed executive was told that she needed to remove an app from the Google app store within 24 hours or face prison time.
According to the newspaper, Russian President Vladimir Putin was enraged by the app because it was used to assist Russians in registering protest votes against his United Russia party in the undemocratic legislative election in 2021.
According to the newspaper, the Smart Voting App was created by Putin’s political rival Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned in 2021 after a poisoning attempt failed to kill him.
Google relocated the executive to a hotel after she received the threat at her home. According to The Washington Post, she checked in under a fictitious name to ensure her safety. According to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, company officials assumed that the presence of hotel security guards and other guests would protect her.
The same agents later paid her a visit in her hotel room. According to The Washington Post, they warned her that the 24-hour deadline was approaching.
Officials at Google believe the agents were from the FSB, the main successor organisation to the KGB. Human-rights organisations have warned repeatedly that the FSB uses its powers to intimidate and stifle dissent.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB agent who died in 2006, accused the agency of running a top-secret hit squad targeting political enemies after being poisoned. Litvinenko died later.
According to The Post, Google in Russia had previously resisted removing the app. Following an order from a Moscow court on September 3, it delayed delisting it from its search engine, according to the newspaper.
The Post reported on September 14 that armed Russian police intimidated employees by showing up at the Google offices in Moscow. The New York Times reported at the time that Russian authorities had named specific individuals who would face prosecution if the app was not removed. According to The Washington Post, the app was disconnected the morning after the executive was threatened in her hotel room.
On Saturday afternoon, Insider contacted Google for comment, but did not obtain an immediate response. According to The Post, Apple’s main representative in Moscow was also threatened, but no further details were provided.
In the midst of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has continued to crack down on Western technology. According to the agency’s website, Russia’s communications agency Roskomnadzor has announced that Instagram will be banned in the country beginning March 14.
