Taking on Valdimir Putin with porn and gambling websites 

Llittle moderation, huge audiences, and biddable owners make porn and gambling sites a safe haven from censors

Vladimir Putin banned 29 UK journalists from entering Russia in mid-June. Picture: Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Six weeks into the invasion of her country, Anastasiya Baydachenko made an emotional plea. She wanted money: Not for weapons, not for clothes, but for adverts.

Vladimir Putin had been aggressively turning Russia’s internet into a fortress and, as a CEO at a Ukrainian digital marketing company, Baydachenko knew a way to infiltrate it.