In Soviet Russia, Sickle Hammers GOOG …

Russia’s antitrust authorities have dropped the hammer (and sickle) on Google’s proposed $140 million acquisition of online advertising firm ZAO Begun. Interestingly, Russia’s Federal Anti-monopoly Service, FAS, blocked the deal not because it felt it would harm competition, but because Google didn’t provide it with enough information to make that determination.

An unfortunate turn of events for Google (GOOG), which had expected to complete its acquisition of ZAO Begun in the third quarter. More so, because of the regulatory scrutiny being leveled at the search sovereign’s proposed advertising partnership with Yahoo (YHOO). “We are very disappointed to hear that FAS has come to this decision,” Google said in a statement. “We strongly believe that this acquisition will enable us to significantly improve opportunities for Russian users, advertisers and publishers as well as the entire industry. At this time, we are reviewing FAS’s decision. Once this process is complete, we will decide on our next steps.”

Sounds like Google may not be willing to take nyet for an answer …