Google Russia goes broke after bank account snatched
theregister.com
theregister.com
The Google situation seems a little different though as it looks like the Russian government forced their hand.
Maybe the assumption was that without revenue they would go away.
It is probably a propagandist action, like "see, we are fighting with evil Google and winning". There is no point to seek any deeper plans.
YouTube is a particular nail in the ass for Putin, because there are no reliable alternative in Russia. Rutube doesn't seem to be an alternative. They cannot just block YouTube. But they are talking about it a lot. So... "Lets do something, lets fine it at least, it would seem like we are fighting". It is like Cornelius Fudge imprisoning Hagrid not because Hagrid was guilty, but because Fudge needs to be seen actively doing something.
The latter is ultimately a survivorship game, however, with strong survivor bias.
Given past hostility of the regime, my thinking is that other than current operating expenses (rent, salaries, cash on hand), there should have been little at risk.
None of the information I've seen has addressed these issues.
Take our bank accounts, we take yours.