Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that after a request from the Ukrainian authorities, the YouTube platform began a global removal of all videos advertising Alabuga and other Russian organizations under sanctions.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that after a request from the Ukrainian authorities, the YouTube platform began a global removal of all videos advertising Alabuga and other Russian organizations under sanctions.
Recall that «Alabuga» is a special economic zone in Tatarstan, Russia, where, among other things, mass production of Shahed attack UAVs has been established.
«We welcome this decision and look forward to continuing the process,» Sibiga wrote on his X account.
The minister recalled that Alabuga is not just an economic zone, but a Russian weapons factory. «The Shahed drones gathered there kill Ukrainian children in their beds almost every day, attack maternity hospitals, and destroy residential buildings in all our cities,» he appealed.
Also, according to the minister, Alabuga recruits teenagers, some of whom are only 15 years old, to work on production lines. «Platforms that distribute advertising content for Alabuga are not neutral service providers. They are part of the chain that supports this production and allows Russian crimes to be carried out,» explained Sybiga.
According to him, YouTube acknowledged this and took action, and direct dialogue with the platform led to a «global result.»
«We are now calling on all other major platforms to act immediately. Alabuga’s recruitment is active. It targets youth. It operates on multiple platforms simultaneously. Every day of inaction is another day that content recruiting teenagers to a sanctioned weapons manufacturer reaches its target audience on the open internet,» Sybiga concluded his post, assuring that the Ukrainian authorities are ready to expand this dialogue to any online platforms.
As dev.ua previously reported, YouTube has begun blocking Russian bloggers for advertising the Alabuga Polytechnic College, which is involved in the production of «shaheeds.»
TikTok also blocked the account of the Alabuga Polytechnic, which recruited teenagers to collect «shaheeds».
