Russia is building a digital fortress — North Korea-scale, but nuclear-armed and 15 times larger.
The Kremlin banned Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Now Telegram is next.
The replacement: MAX, a state-surveillance messenger modeled on China’s WeChat —Politico. 1/
On Feb. 4, SpaceX tightened Starlink authentication. Russian satellite internet traffic in Ukraine dropped 75%.
Battlefield coordination collapsed. Russia started laying fiber-optic cables to the front. 2/
Days later, Roskomnadzor began slowing Telegram across Russia.
April plan: block it entirely.
Anton, a Russian drone repair officer: “All military work goes through Telegram. That would be like shooting the entire Russian army in the head.” 3/
Pro-war volunteer networks use Telegram to fundraise for vehicles, fuel, armor, and evacuation equipment.
Ivan Philippov, who tracks Russian military bloggers: “If you break Telegram inside Russia, you break fundraising.” 4/
Already blocked or restricted: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, FaceTime, Snapchat, X, Signal, Discord, Viber.
On March 3 a new law took effect allowing the FSB to order telecom operators to cut cellular and fixed internet. 5/
The Kremlin’s replacement is MAX — launched March 2025, built by VK, integrated with state services and subject to Russian data-retention laws.
Schools and employers are steering users toward it. Elena: “It works badly. Messages are delayed. Notifications don’t come.” 6/
Russia’s censorship system is not China’s Great Firewall. It operates internally — deep packet inspection equipment installed inside every provider, slowing traffic without formally banning it.
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Mikhail Klimarev, internet Protection Society: “It’s not one wall. It’s thousands of fences. You climb one, then there’s another.”
In September Russia banned VPN advertising. In February the first case was opened against a media outlet for promoting a VPN service. 8/
Even Kremlin allies are alarmed. Sergei Mironov, leader of Just Russia party, called the regulators behind the Telegram slowdown “idiots” on February 11 — warning the restrictions could cost soldiers’ lives. Pro-war bloggers call the blocking “sabotage of the war effort.” 9/
Alexander Gabuev, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center: digital isolation could turn Russia into a large, nuclear-armed North Korea and a junior partner to China.
A complete internet shutdown is possible. But if they do that, the internet won’t be the main problem anymore. 10X
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