By Murad Rakhimov | 2026-02-19

Russia spent more time cutting off the internet last year than any country on Earth, logging 37,166 hours of disruptions, according to the Cost of Internet Shutdowns 2025 report by Top10VPN. The outages have little to do with isolated technical failures, analysts said. They were part of a systematic effort to reshape how Russians access information.

Record shutdown costs

Top10VPN said in January that Russian authorities combined nationwide shutdowns, selective slowdowns and targeted protocol interference. The report highlighted the so-called 16-KB curtain, in which only the first 16 kilobytes of data load from sites hosted on Cloudflare and other Western platforms. Connections technically remain open, but the bandwidth makes services unusable.

Because Cloudflare supports a large share of global web infrastructure, targeting it advanced Moscow's push for a sovereign internet, or Runet. Analysts said simultaneous regional restrictions and service-specific interference inflated total outage hours while effectively crippling access nationwide.

The economic fallout was steep. Top10VPN estimated Russia accounted for roughly 60% of global losses tied to internet outages in 2025, with damages reaching $3.73 billion. Researchers said the measures increasingly isolate Russian users from the global web and indicate a broader shift toward censorship.

Toward sovereign internet

Alisher Ilkhamov, director of Central Asia Due Diligence in London, said efforts to control access began years ago with site blocking and attempts to build domestic infrastructure. After failing to fully replace global networks, authorities turned to broader restrictions.

"It's clear that this is a restriction of access to information carried out as part of a policy of dulling citizens' thinking and brainwashing them. The apparent goal is also to tie the population to the TV -- zombie box,' which has long since lost out to the internet, especially YouTube, in terms of popularity," he told Kontur.

The 16-KB curtain effectively prevents video streaming, which analysts said could shift audiences back toward state television and narrow access to independent information.

Political scientist Anvar Nazirov in Tashkent said Russia is moving toward a state-controlled network modeled on tightly restricted systems elsewhere.

"This is what we see today in Iran and what has already been done in North Korea. The Russian authorities want to create their own internet that will be completely under the control of the state and intelligence agencies. This is precisely where everything is heading," he told Kontur.

Nazirov argued such a system could help authorities manage public sentiment and suppress protests but would deepen technological isolation. He warned long-term consequences would extend beyond finances, undermining innovation, trade and scientific exchange.

"Without connection to the World Wide Web, it is impossible to develop small business, an export-oriented economy, high-tech industries, or scientific and cultural exchange. As a result, Russia will simply turn into North Korea -- that is, it will become an isolated and uncompetitive country," he said.

Tightening digital controls

Analyst Adil Turdukulov in Kyrgyzstan said Russia already trails the West technologically and lost ground after sanctions and reduced scientific cooperation following the war in Ukraine.

"The gap widened when the advanced Western technology chains were made off-limits. And scientific exchange in this area also became impossible after the war in Ukraine began," he told Kontur.

He added that authorities view YouTube as a major threat because independent media and bloggers still use the platform widely.

"All this is happening because of the unjust war waged by the Kremlin. And Russian citizens are reaping its fruits. But I don't think internet users will rise up against these strict restrictions. Russians today endure even worse things," he said.

Dmitry Dubrovsky of Charles University in Prague said the estimated $3 billion in losses would not alarm Moscow, noting commodity swings can shift state reserves by far larger sums. He noted, however, that slowing traffic changes how information spreads.

"So, three billion is not something that would particularly worry the Russian authorities. But slowing traffic will have noticeable consequences. Slowing down YouTube will severely impact the dissemination of independent, critical information about the war in Ukraine and conditions in Russia itself," he told Kontur.

He added that Russia appears to be building a filtering system resembling China's firewall, where the internet technically functions but only approved sites load.

"This makes it possible, if necessary, to cut off all sources of information except overtly propagandistic ones. Russian internet users will be left with, conditionally speaking, pizza delivery services, cat videos and [Propagandist Vladimir] Solovyov," he said.

Meanwhile, Russian regulators continue expanding enforcement tools.

Forbes reported that Roskomnadzor plans an AI-driven traffic-filtering system costing 2.3 billion RUB (over $30 million) to identify and block mirrored banned sites by analyzing language patterns.

By mid-January 2025 more than 400 VPN services had faced restrictions, while usage of such tools surged, according to Kommersant. Lawmakers also proposed requiring passport verification for social media access, signaling a deeper shift toward state-managed connectivity.