The leader of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said access to Google will be shut down within the territory.
“We have decided to block Google on the territory of the DPR,” Denis Pushilin wrote on his official Telegram account Friday. “This is what you must do in any society with criminals: isolate them from other people.”
“If Google stops doing its criminal policy and returns to the mainstream of law, morality and common sense, there will be no obstacles for its work,” he added.
The leader of the so called DPR went on to accuse Google of being part of Ukrainian and Western propaganda efforts targeting Russians and Russian speakers.
“The inhuman propaganda of Ukraine and the West has long crossed all boundaries. There is a real persecution of Russians, the imposition of lies and disinformation,” he claimed. “At the forefront of the information technology is the Google search, which openly, on the orders of its curators from the US government, promotes terrorism and violence against all Russians, and especially the population of Donbas.”
Pushilin went on to say the move was designed to ensure the security and protection of the population of the Donbas and was made in consultation with leadership in Russia.
“The West and Ukraine are exerting unprecedented pressure on the Republic and creating threats to both physical and psychological security,” he claimed. “The purpose of this pressure is to intimidate the inhabitants of the Donetsk People’s Republic, to break their spirit.”
