Days after Putin threatened to "throttle" Teams, Microsoft's subsidiary in Russia will file for bankruptcy

A Microsoft subsidiary in Russia will file for bankruptcy, according to a recent report by Reuters. The tech giant reportedly filed a note with the official Fedresurs registry on Friday, May 30, 2025 about its bankruptcy plans.

Specifically, Microsoft Rus LLC will file for bankruptcy. There are three additional Microsoft units in Russia: Microsoft Development Center Rus, Microsoft Mobile Rus, and Microsoft Payments Rus. The status of those units is unknown at this time.

Microsoft will become the latest tech giant to have a unit file for bankruptcy in Russia. Google's Russia-based subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after it claimed its bank accounts were seized by Russian authorities, which prevented payments from being made in the country.

Russia and Microsoft

Microsoft stopped software sales in Russia in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Microsoft continued to operate in Russia after the cutoff, but in a limited capacity.

Microsoft also removed the mobile apps of RT, a Russian state-owned media outlet, from the Microsoft Store. The tech giant banned advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media as well.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the products of Western companies should be "throttled" and "choked" in Russia. Those remarks came during a discussion about US companies that had departed Russia or reduced operations in the country.

"We need to throttle them," said Putin when talking about US companies in a meeting with entrepreneurs. "They’re trying to choke us, we should respond in kind."

Those comments by Putin came shortly after President Trump said that the Russian president "has gone absolutely CRAZY!"

Trump added that Putin is "needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever."

It's not clear what caused Microsoft's unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy. Microsoft has not commented on the situation as of the time of publication.

Statements by Russian authorities and leaders suggest the country wants Russian alternatives to products from Western companies. That has occurred across several industries, such as Vkusno i Tochka filling the void left by McDonald's.

Kaspersky Lab could fill some of the gaps left by Google, Microsoft, and other Western software companies. Kaspersky Lab, which is headquartered in Moscow, Russia, is the majority shareholder of МойОфис (MyOffice).