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Russia disconnects several regions from the global internet to test its sovereign net

VPNs reportedly didn't help citizens bypass restrictions

Residents of the affected regions couldn't access both foreign and local apps, including the likes of YouTube (one of the last Western social media platforms still available in Russia), Google, WhatsApp, and Telegram – The Record reported. Russia's censor body conducted similar tests in July, in fact, to ensure the functionality of the "sovereign internet" infrastructure when it was disconnected from the wider web. On December 7, Roskomnadzor also announced plans to restrict at least eight foreign web hosting providers as they fail to meet the agency’s censorship requirements.

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