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RIM's shipping BlackBerry phones to Russia in 2008

We're going to refrain from the "In Soviet Russia..." jokes and get straight to the point: RIM is bringing its BlackBerry phones to Russia in Q1 2008. Apparently the hang up was with Russian security agencies, but now that the two main carriers, MTS and Vimpelcom, have gotten approval from the FSB, the phones are finally able to enter Russia in acronymical harmony. MTS has had BlackBerry phones in Ukraine since October, any many business customers use foreign phones via roaming, but this is the first time in a while the phones are going legit in actual Russia. The carriers have been granted permission for one year of sales, but as we all know, once a few government officials go CrackBerry, they're never going back.