Following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war crimes committed by the Putin regime, Microsoft took a strong stance. The company pulled its services from Russia and has been helping Ukraine with anti-cyber solutions to thwart Russian cyberattacks and cyberespionage. All that makes reports Microsoft services are once again operating in Russia strange.
According to media outlets in Russia, Microsoft and Intel are once again open for business in the country. Like Microsoft, Intel took a firm stance against Ukraine with no shipments in Russia since February 2022, and halted all operations in the country during April 2022.
Reports now point to Microsoft allowing Windows updates to resume in Russia. This seems to be for business users as individuals cannot download and install the latest versions of the operating system.
Commitments?
It is worth noting that Russian media is hardly trustworthy on any matter. However, information from Intel to Tom’s Hardware hints that the company may have been forced into resuming driver updates.
The company says, “access to resources that meet driver update needs, such as the Intel Download Center and Intel Download Support Assistant, are part of Intel’s warranty obligations.”
In other words, the company may be allowing updates simply to fulfil warranty commitments. As for Microsoft, the company’s reasons may be similar. The company may be allowing business users to update to newer builds to maintain the security and functionality of the OS.
Neither Intel nor Microsoft has yet to offer official comment on this situation.
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