Russia is carrying out tests in Muslim federal republics to cut itself off from the global internet, in order to control all traffic within its borders.
Russia has blocked access to several popular websites and messaging apps in some Muslim-majority regions. According to a report published on December 8, 2024 by the American organization Institute for the Study of War (ISW), residents of these federal republics were unable to access international services such as YouTube, Google, WhatsApp or Telegram.
Access problems also affected local services, including those of Yandex, the Russian internet giant. Disruptions persisted even with the use of virtual private networks (VPNs), according to reports. According to NetBlocks, which monitors global internet connectivity, these outages lasted up to 24 hours in Dagestan.
In November, Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecommunications regulator, announced “routine” tests to disconnect the Russian Internet, or RuNet, from the global network. These tests have increased since the start of the war led by Russia in Ukraine, but were to be limited to certain regions, according to the independent Russian media Meduza.
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Russia seeks to cut itself off from the global internet to anticipate unrest and protests
The Russian agencies probably aimed to test their ability to isolate Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia – regions with a Muslim majority and marked by recent episodes of instability – from platforms like Telegram, in order to better control information in the event of future troubles. In 2023, Russian authorities had already cut off access to Telegram in Dagestan during anti-Semitic riots in November, as well as in Bashkortostan and the Sakha Republic during demonstrations in January.
These regions also rose up during the first forced mobilizations to send part of the population to fight in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finally, the ISW considers that these regions could take inspiration from the recent offensives of Islamist rebels in Syria to organize abuses against the authorities in place. By controlling the local internet, Moscow hopes that information will no longer reach its population.
