MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Google decided on Tuesday to block the channels connected to RT television channel and Sputnik information agency on the video hosting service YouTube that it owns, over the situation in Ukraine.

"Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we’re blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately. It’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up," the European division of Google reported via Twitter.

The company added that it continued to closely monitor the situation.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday that the decision to block RT and Sputnik across the European Union would be taken in coming hours. Later one of vice presidents of Meta Nick Clegg tweeted that the company owning Facebook and Instagram would restrict access to RT and Sputnik accounts in the European Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.