Poke This

The Pokémon Go craze has swept Russia,* despite not being technically available in the country. More than a million people are playing in Moscow, according to Bloomberg. The phenomenon has worried some officials, while others promise to accommodate what they believe to be a short-lived craze.

Russia’s Sberbank, the largest and most popular bank, which also includes the insurer Sberbank Life, is now offering insurance for Pokémon Go-related accidents – to cover players who fall into construction pits or get run over by cars as they traipse around Moscow totally engrossed in the battles they are waging on their phone screens.

Russia’s Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov has also indicated that authorities are taking the perils of Pokémon seriously, holding special classes on safe Pokémon hunts. “Our experts from the Fire Prevention Academy… are already holding master classes on safe Pokémon catching,” he said.