Technology

Russia invades Ukraine: the latest news on connectivity, cryptocurrency, and more

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Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge
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This even has implications for the ISS

On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded areas of Ukraine near its northern, eastern, and southern borders. It’s a significant military action that could have alarming consequences, and more than 500,000 people had reportedly fled from Ukraine to neighboring countries by February 28th.

Tech companies responded to the crisis in various ways, with a focus on trying to reduce online misinformation and avoid putting Ukrainians in danger. Google disabled Maps traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens, for example, while Facebook removed a Russian misinformation network. But Russia has blocked Twitter and partially blocked Facebook. And there have been internet outages in Ukraine that have sparked concerns about the possibility of attacks on Ukraine’s internet infrastructure.

  • Russian “rebellion” attempt ends with a post on Telegram.

    The apparent coup attempt that Wagner private military group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said was a “march of justice” on Moscow is over (via Interfax, NYT).

    Late Saturday in Russia, Prigozhin announced his forces were “turning around our columns and returning to field camps according to plan” after coming within 200km (125 miles) of Moscow without any bloodshed. That Telegram post currently has over 192,000 clown emoji reactions.

    Russian state news agency TASS reports charges against Prigozhin will be dropped and that he will leave for Belarus.

    Screenshot of an audio post in a telegram channel, shows over 150,000 reactions using a clown emoji, 50,000 thumbs down reactions, and 21,000 thumbs up.
    Telegram message posted by Concord Group, a company partially owned by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.Image: Telegram / Concord Group
  • Richard Lawler

    Jun 24

    Richard Lawler

    Russian ISPs cut off access to Google News as Putin responds to “armed rebellion.”

    As the New York Times, CNN, and BBC report, the Wagner private military group of mercenaries that had supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has apparently taken control of facilities in two key cities, Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh.

    Vladimir Putin called for an end to the “armed rebellion” in a video released on Telegram, but as Wagner leader (and accused financial backer of the Internet Research Agency “troll farm”) Yevgeny Prigozhin threatened to march on Moscow, Netblocks noted that Russian ISPs were restricting access to information from Google News.

    Update 3:20PM ET: Progozhin has announced the Wagner troops will return to their bases, ending the “march of justice” toward Moscow. The president of Belarus announced that it was the result of his negotiations with Progozhin.

  • Emma Roth

    Apr 13

    Emma Roth

    National Guard member arrested for leaking classified documents on Discord

    A matrix of green binary code flows down in the background of a laptop computer with a green-hued image of the US Capitol building

    Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

    Law enforcement officials have linked a trove of classified government documents leaked on Discord to a 21-year-old Air National Guard member, as reported earlier by NBC News. The suspect, Jack Teixeira, was arrested at his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts, on Thursday.

    “Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

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