Amid ongoing sanctions on Russia, it appears Microsoft may have cut users off from Windows 10 and Windows 11 downloads.
Countries and companies around the world have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Companies from Big Tech to food chains have pulled out of the country in an effort to make the invasion as costly as possible. According to PCMag, Microsoft is taking a step further, prohibiting users inside Russia from downloading Windows 10 and Windows 11.
According to the outlet, multiple users took to Twitter to say they were getting “404 – File or Directory not found” errors when trying to download the Windows Disk Image ISO.
Even the Russian state news agency TASS experienced the same issues but was able to download the ISO by using a VPN service to mask their location. To further test it, PCMag used a VPN server in Russia and received the same error.
Russia is already struggling to deal with other tech-related sanctions. The has talked of banning cloud providers from operating in-country, and the country is on the verge of running out of digital storage.