It's possible they're trying to tank Kapersky but considering all the backdoors the NSA injected in American software (RSA[0], PRISM[1]), it seems very plausible the Russian government does exactly the same thing to Russian software.
PRISM isn't a software backdoor. It's a system for sending selectors (metadata query terms) to providers under FISA 702 Directives. PRISM : FISA warrants :: Stripe : credit card authorizations.
We always suggested to activists to consider the geopolitical loyalty of the company selling your software (especially security software) when picking a provider. Its a crappy rule of thumb but can occasionally be helpful.
Working in/on Russia - not Kaspersky
Working in/on Israel - not Checkpoint
Working in/on UK (e.g drone strikes) - not Sophos
Working in/on US - etc etc
Ultimately capability and costs of the software was the main thing but the more you heard about Kaspersky style stuff, the more its seems relevant. Hanging around the security space long enough, you meet people at Western security software companies who quietly will express some concern about what goes on inside their own places. It reminds me of Huawei hysteria.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_BSAFE [1] https://www.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-data-...