Roskomnadzor Addresses Internet Issues in Several Russian Regions

Over the past weekend, users in several regions of Russia experienced internet access restrictions. For example, the Dagestani telecommunications company Ellco notified its customers that, due to Roskomnadzor drills “to practice scenarios of disconnecting access to the foreign segment of the Internet,” there were limitations in accessing certain websites and services on December 6-7, 2024.

Ellco representatives stated that users were having trouble accessing WhatsApp, among other services, and emphasized that the company could not influence the situation. According to user reports, access was lost to most foreign resources, including GitHub, ChatGPT, Telegram, Gmail, and many others. Data from Netblocks analysts indicated that the disruption of access to foreign resources in Dagestan lasted for about a day.

Media outlets reported that Roskomnadzor (RKN) representatives confirmed the disruptions were indeed related to the drills. “During the exercises, together with telecom operators, the effectiveness of key substitute infrastructure is assessed in the event of a deliberate disconnection of the Russian segment of the Internet from the outside, and information systems whose functionality depends on connections to services, libraries, and other resources located in foreign networks are identified,” the agency’s press service stated on Friday. “The purpose of the drills is to confirm the readiness of Russian Internet infrastructure to ensure the availability of key foreign and Russian services in the event of deliberate external interference.”

Roskomnadzor reminded the public that checks on the readiness of key systems to ensure the stability of the Russian internet segment are conducted annually, in accordance with Russian government decree No. 1316 dated October 12, 2019. The schedule for these drills is approved by the Russian Ministry of Digital Development in coordination with the FSB and Roskomnadzor.

News about the upcoming drills first emerged in November of this year. At that time, the agency stated that such checks “do not affect Russian users’ access to the Internet” and emphasized that these exercises are held annually in cooperation with telecom operators.