Google Russia Bails Out

FILE: Image of screen showing Google in Russian (Undated)

Internet giant Google says it is filing for bankruptcy and shutting down its Russian operation citing Moscow's seizure of its financial assets there.

California-based Alphabet Inc. says it plans to put its Russian Google operation into bankruptcy after Moscow took its Russian-based bank accounts.

Google says that without cash, it cannot continue there.

Ahead of the bankruptcy filing, Google issued a statement saying Moscow's move "has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations."

In March, the company ended providing cloud computing to customers and selling advertising in the wave of western corporate pull-outs from Russia following its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

While the Google Russia operation may be shuttered, certain services will continue. Russians will still be able to access Google services such as Gmail, Maps, Search, YouTube, and Android - an operating system for mobiles and tablets.

But there's a catch. Since its bank accounts are seized, Russians won't be able to purchase apps despite its Play store remaining open.

Before the bank account take-away, Google had prior scrapes with Moscow. In April, a Russian court ordered the seizure of 500 million rubles - about $7 million U.S. dollars then - over restrictions Alphabet imposed on a Russian TV entity's content placed on YouTube, said to be the most popular social network in that nation.