YouTube has begun a global removal of videos promoting "Alabuga" and other sanctioned entities. Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, stated that Ukraine welcomes this decision and expects other platforms to continue this process, UNN reports.
When we welcomed the start of the dialogue with YouTube, we noted our belief in its ability to bring significant results. Today, that has happened. YouTube has begun a global removal of videos promoting "Alabuga" and other sanctioned entities. We welcome this decision and look forward to the continuation of this process,
He noted that "Alabuga" is a Russian weapons factory, and the "Shahed" drones assembled there kill Ukrainian children in their beds almost daily, strike maternity hospitals, and destroy residential buildings in our cities.
"Alabuga" involves teenagers, some as young as 15, in working on these very production lines. Platforms that host "Alabuga" promotional content are not neutral service providers. They are part of the chain that supports this production and enables Russian atrocities. YouTube recognized this and took action. A structured, direct dialogue with a global-scale platform has brought a global result. We are grateful for this,
He added that Ukraine now calls on all other major platforms to act without delay.
The "Alabuga" recruitment campaign is active. It targets youth. It operates simultaneously on many platforms. Every day of inaction is another day when content recruiting teenagers for a sanctioned weapons manufacturing enterprise reaches its target audience on the open internet. We are ready to extend the same dialogue to any platform prepared to act on similar principles,
As a reminder,
The streaming platform Twitch blocked the accounts of streamers who broadcasted a Counter-Strike 2 championship from "Alabuga Polytech" and promoted this educational institution.
In Russia, students are being recruited into "drone forces" using imagery from computer games and promises of "safe service." To this end, leaflets are being distributed near universities calling for them to operate "Geran" drones instead of completing mandatory military service.