People in Russia can purportedly download drivers and other software from Intel and Microsoft, which withdrew from the country following its invasion of Ukraine. According to Moscow’s CNews, people and businesses in Russia must go through a somewhat convoluted process to obtain those files.
While Intel’s website generally remains closed to netizens visiting from Russia, if those people can reach Intel’s download portal from a search engine or some other place, they can now, once again, use that site even if they are in the land of Putin. In other words, they can’t come in through the front door, but if they can find the correct URL, it should now work. After war broke out, that wasn’t the case.
Following Russia’s devastating invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both Intel and Microsoft withdrew from the country. Intel initially stated that it was doing so to comply with US export restrictions that prohibited the delivery of semiconductors to Russia for a variety of reasons, including military uses.
A month into the occupation, the chipmaker discontinued all sales in Russia, and in April of that year, it temporarily paused all economic operations in the country, claiming it was joining “the world community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and advocating for a rapid return to peace.” Intel had 1,200 employees in Russia at the time.
However, sources close to the situation tell us that Intel first blocked downloads of the software listed in the statement in Russia; the corporation restored access in the later part of last year. This supports Intel’s claim that the changes were not “recent.” Due to Intel’s warranty responsibilities, the Intel Driver and Support Assistant (DSA) files are now freely available to Russian consumers.
According to Russian media sources, Intel’s initial download ban began on February 25, 2022, and appears to be based on the user’s geographic location.
As a result, both people and businesses in Russia were unable to obtain downloads from Intel’s official site, forcing them to spoof their IP address with a VPN, utilise torrents, or locate copies of the drivers posted in various forums. ‘Experts,’ according to Russian media, maintained that Intel’s bans hindered the corporation from completing its warranty responsibilities to Russian users.
According to CNews, Microsoft took a same way as Intel in allowing some downloads. The Windows creator has also been vocal about its support for Ukraine, declaring that it would provide the struggling country with up to $100 million in cloud support, in addition to other pledges.
Soon after the invasion, Microsoft began closing its doors to Russian residents and corporations, including barring them from obtaining Windows versions, software upgrades, or security patches from its websites. According to Russian media reports, some of these limitations were relaxed towards the end of 2022, and as of this week, Russians could download and instal updates for at least Windows 11.
A month after the occupation began, the chipmaker giant halted all sales to Russia and temporarily halted all business operations in the country in April of the same year, saying in a statement that he joined “the world community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for a speedy return to peace.” Intel had 1,200 employees in Russia at the time.
This week, Intel announced in a moderately cryptic statement that “access to tools that address driver update needs, such as the Intel Download Center and Intel Download Support Assistant, are part of the guarantee from Intel”. In other words, if you find yourself able to retrieve something you previously couldn’t, it appears to be due to warranty responsibilities.
Furthermore, we believe it is best to allow users to get drivers from official sites rather than unauthorised sources, which may contain malware.
