Russian entrepreneur Alexander Zobov has announced that he is launching a homegrown version of Instagram following parent company Meta’s banning in the country over policies on the Ukraine offensive.

Russia’s internet and media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has blocked access to the website of the Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat, along with 31 other outlets.  According to Roskomsvoboda, an activist group monitoring access restrictions in the Russian segment of the internet, Bellingcat’s page was blocked on Wednesday at the request of Russia’s prosecutor general’s office. The…

The Japanese government will expand Ukraine-related export and financial sanctions against Russia and Russian businessmen, in line with similar measures taken by Washington and Brussels last Friday. “We intend to ban the export of luxury goods to Russia and ban the import of certain Russian goods,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the press on Wednesday.…