There are very few things that’ve managed to successfully invade Russia. Most famously, Napoleon himself epically failed to enter the sprawling country when he tried to cross its border during the Winter. But, now, there’s finally a force strong enough to do what even the dictator could not – and its name is Pokemon GO. The wildly popular app has snuck into Russia ahead of any official release, and officials are none too pleased.
While Russia has yet to place an all-out ban on the app, officials have lobbied for the game to be severely restricted and monitored. News outlets are reporting trainers who’re caught playing the game near certain landmarks or religious areas will be arrested, and that’s not even to mention the paranoia Russia’s military has over the app.
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Franz Klintsevich, a high-ranking parliament member, said, “There is a feeling that the devil came through this mechanism and is simply trying to destroy us spiritually from within.” Following his remarks, the government decided to task Russia’s Consumer Rights agency to investigate whether the game could psychologically alter gamers for whatever reason.
Franz isn’t the only official concerned about the app’s long-reaching effects. Communication Minister Nikolai Nikiforov told Moscow Times he believes U.S. intelligence services are using the game to collect information on vulnerable gamers. And Denis Voronenkov, the leader of Russia’s Communist Party, said he thinks the CIA had Ninatic develop the app so the agency could spy on Russian citizens.
Still, much of this political finger-pointing has done little to stop Russians from downloading the app. While there’s no word on when the app will officially debut there – if ever – gamers are managing to get Pokemon GO by rigging their mobile’s geolocation settings. And, only just last week, it was reported that a student from St. Petersberg had managed to catch 147 pokemon.
So, really, I guess Napoleon really could have learned a few things from Pokemon GO, huh?
