Russian Users Report Issues Creating Google Accounts Using Russian Phone Numbers

On Monday, September 9, Russian internet users reported issues with creating new Google accounts, which are used to access Gmail and other online services provided by the company, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Attempts to register an account using any Russian phone number result in an error message: "This number cannot be used for verification."

Google has not officially commented on the blocking of Russian users.

The issue may be related to the sanctions set to take effect on September 12, which are targeting IT and software services for users in Russia. This includes IT consulting, design services, IT support, cloud services, and more, according to the US Department of the Treasury's website.

The sanctions were imposed by the US in June 2024.

Last year, Russian government passed a law banning the use of foreign email accounts to log into Russian websites.

On August 8, the YouTube video hosting service stopped opening on computers and mobile devices for users in Russia, according to data from the Brand Analytics service. On August 6, Russian authorities notified all major telecommunication companies in the country that they were slowing down video playback speeds on YouTube to 128 kilobits per second.