Russian Internet users are unable to access the open Internet

10 months ago

Russian ISPs have been throttling Cloudflare-protected web services since June 9, 2025, limiting users to loading only the first 16 KB of web assets.
The throttling is applied by Russian ISPs like Rostelecom, Megafon, Vimpelcom, MTS, and MGTS, affecting all connection methods and protocols.
Cloudflare has not received any formal communication from Russian government entities regarding the motivation behind the throttling.
The actions align with Russia's efforts to isolate its Internet and reduce reliance on Western technology, as hinted by President Putin's recent threats.
Other service providers like Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and OVH are also affected by similar disruptive actions in Russia.
Cloudflare's internal data shows high packet loss and connectivity errors, corroborating the throttling effects.
Network Error Logging (NEL) reports indicate a rise in TCP connection resets and QUIC protocol errors.
Cloudflare advises affected site owners to reach out to Russian entities to lift the throttling measures.
Cloudflare condemns the throttling, emphasizing the importance of free and open Internet access for individual rights and economic development.

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