Google wins UK ruling blocking Russian fine worth more than world GDP

Alphabet Inc.’s Google won a UK court ruling to block Russian media firms from seizing the tech giant’s global assets to recover Russian court-imposed fines that have now accrued interest equal to many times more than the world’s economy combined.

Google sought protection in the UK and the US courts last year to stop enforcement of Russian fines after it blocked YouTube channels of three media groups, controlled or owned by sanctioned individuals. The Russian court asked Google to reinstate the channels or face a hefty penalty that doubles every week, the judge said in the decision.