Interfax, a Russian state-controlled news outlet, reported on October 15 that Steam has agreed to remove any content banned in Russia in its online store.
Steam is owned and operated by Valve, a U.S.-based video game company.
The move comes after a crackdown on social networks and other online platforms that has been intensifying in Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion against Ukraine. In September, Russia blocked the popular messaging app Discord. It was the latest social media app to be blocked.
Interfax reported that Roskomnadzor, the federal censorship authority, had agreed to comply with the law. Steam has an online catalog of over 100,000 games, and is used by more than 130 million people around the globe, including about 10 million Russians. It removed 260 banned materials from its platform and blocked 11 websites.
Roskomnadzor has not specified what materials it has removed.
Rumors began to circulate that WhatsApp would be blocked as well after Roskomnadzor decided to block the Signal app in August 2024, allegedly due to “violations” of Russian law.
YouTube has been experiencing massive outages since reports that the Russian government plans to block the site in September.
Western diplomats and analysts say that the growing military ties between Russia and North Korea show Moscow’s growing need for resources in order to continue its costly war against Ukraine.
Interfax reported that Roskomnadzor, the federal censorship authority, confirmed that Steam, with its online catalog of over 100,000 games, and the fact that it is used by more than 130 million people around the globe, including about 10 million in Russia has agreed to comply to the law.
David Arakhamia is the leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People, a parliamentary group. He made comments to the Kyiv Independent.
Financial Times (FT), Oct. 15, reported that Elina Valtonen, Finnish Foreign Minister, warned that Western countries are becoming tired of their support for Ukraine and called for a stronger commitment to backing Kyiv.
According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris survey, 48% of voters in swing states who said they’d vote early supported Trump while 47% supported Harris. Another 5% of voters said they had voted or chose another candidate.
Mark Rutte stated in an interview with Reuters on October 13 and German radio Hessischer Rundfunk that “the message (to Russian president Vladimir Putin) is that he won’t get his way. Ukraine will prevail.”
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted the evacuation of state institutions.
In an interview with Kremlin’s RIA Novosti, published on October 15, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Budapest and Russia’s state-owned Gazprom are in discussions on additional gas purchases next year.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 12 of the 17 drones of the type Shahed launched by Russia over night. Overnight, seven S-300/400 and two Kh 59 missiles were fired at Mykolaiv Oblast.
“With the beginning of the “heating season,” we can expect massive Russian attacks on the energy sector,” Oleksandrlytvynenko said, National Security and Defense Council Sec.
Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential advisor, reacted after almost a full week of silence following Ukrainska Pravda’s claim that the Ukrainian Government is exerting “systematic” pressure against one of Ukraine’s largest news media sites.
The statement follows an article in the French newspaper Le Monde that claimed that Tuareg fighters of the anti-government CSP were using Ukrainian drones to attack the military and Wagner mercenaries.
“Now the town is more like a desert world: there are no shelters either for civilians or for soldiers,” said Anastasia Bobovnikova. She was a spokesperson from the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
“It was (Ukraine) the apple of his eyes; he used talk about it.” Donald Trump said that he had told him, “You’re not going to go in, and he was not going to go in.”
This includes 1,210 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
According to Vitalii Kim, the Russian forces attacked the city at around 2:30 am with S-300 anti-aircraft weapons. An industrial complex, a restaurant, shops, residential structures, and cars were all damaged.
According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, Ukrainians suffering from diabetes, bronchial asthma, and other illnesses on Russian-occupied territory will no longer be eligible for free medication unless they obtain Russian passports by 2025.
Lubos Blaha is a senior member of the pro-Russian Smer party (Direction), led by Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on October 12.
Josep Borrell announced on October 14 that he plans to extend the EUMAM for two more years, subject to approval by the EU Council.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted evacuations. The threats were linked to a recent investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russian security services sabotage of Ukraine.
Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Brazil, said that “information” that Putin might attend the G20 Summit in Brazil obligates the Brazilian authorities to arrest him.
According to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence, Russia’s fall and winter plans include “the actual participation of North Korea in war”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 14.
The treaty stipulates that both countries must provide military support to each other in the event of an attack. The first treaty was signed by Putin in June 2024 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Read More @ kyivindependent.com