Pokemon mania takes over Russia, and the Kremlin is wary

Moscow

MORE than a million people in Moscow are playing Pokemon Go, the mobile game dominating download charts in three dozen countries - and the number is especially impressive because the game isn't supposed to be available in Russia.

Despite attempts by app developer Niantic Inc to manage global demand, fans in Russia and elsewhere have taken special steps to track down and install Pokemon Go before its official release, a process that sometimes involves tricking their phones into thinking they live in another country. Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems PJSC estimates that 1.37 million people are playing Pokemon Go on major wireless networks in Moscow, a more than seven-fold increase from a week ago.