Censorship agency to test-isolate Russia’s internet

Can Russia disconnect from the global internet? That is what Roskomnadzor aims to test in December.

Censorship agency Roskomnadzor calls the exercise a “routine” that will only take place in “certain regions,” Kommersant reports. The purpose is to ensure that Russia’s own internet, RuNet, is prepared to disable access to the global internet. “During the exercise, together with communications operators, the effectiveness of key replacement infrastructure will be determined,” the press service of Roskomnadzor told Kommersant. Tests will be conducted to confirm the readiness of the RuNet to ensure availability of key foreign and Russian services in the event of deliberate external influence, the censorship authority explained. A copy of a letter sent from the Central Bank to financial institutions is leaked on Telegram.

The letter asks the banks to be aware, but don’t worry as services will not be affected. Russia’s parliament approved a law in 2018 giving the government authority to take control of internet infrastructure within the country to ensure it could be isolated in the event of a security threat. In recent years, the Roskomnadzor has blocked thousands of domain names and IP addresses it considers to harm the repressive regime’s control over its citizens. The Barents Observer was blocked in 2019, and most other independent Russian language news outlets have been blocked since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although many are still reading news with the help of VPN, the censorship agency are enforcing the ban of software related to circumventing internet filtering in Russia.