East-West Digital News was founded back in 2011 to provide international audiences with quality information about Russia’s emerging tech industries — from startup and venture developments, to e-commerce, to mobile, to software development and much more.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the West responded with unprecedented sanctions, this mission has become more and more difficult to accomplish. International interest in Russian tech — putting aside cyberwar and military technologies, which EWDN did not focus on — has almost vanished. Meanwhile, political censorship and passions have made news coverage sometimes tricky, if not risky.
While EWDN regularly covered the international activity of Russian tech entrepreneurs and investors, this topic has become toxic. Anything Russian, or related to Russia, can now be associated with the Putin regime’s sins. Thus, a simple story about a Russian entrepreneur or investor operating abroad successfully can draw undesired attention as their company struggles to avoid the new stigma.
Should such stories still be covered? Should their Russian dimension be omitted? Or should a news outlet on Russian tech abstain from covering them? None of these options seems possible.
Protecting our own professional reputation also has become challenging. Some ill-inspired pro-Ukrainian activists believe that the simple fact of covering Russia turns an international news outlet like EWDN into something pro-Russian. Suffice it to take a look at EWDN’s content to dismiss such an absurd accusation. EWDN has always been guided by the highest standards of journalistic objectivity: it would be extremely hard to find, among more than 5,000 stories we have published since 2011, any kind of political bias or propaganda.
EWDN’s publisher, International Digital News, covers the Ukrainian tech scene as well, through a distinct news site. Acknowledging the resilience of Ukrainian tech companies amid the war and addressing their needs for international visibility, Ukraine Digital News will proudly pursue its mission.
Meanwhile, we are suspending our coverage of Russian tech news until better times — when Russia open up again to peaceful cooperation with the world.
