Russia Escalates Internet Censorship: Cloudflare and Western Hosts Face Nationwide Throttling

Aggressive Network Throttling Targets Cloudflare, Disrupts Access for Millions

Starting June 9, 2025, Russia initiated a sweeping crackdown on internet access by throttling web traffic associated with Cloudflare and other prominent Western hosting providers. The restrictions, enforced by Russian internet service providers (ISPs), have rendered websites protected by Cloudflare nearly unusable inside the country. The throttling is so severe that it limits users to just 16 KB of data per web asset—an amount far too small for any modern webpage or application to load properly.

Cloudflare confirmed it received no formal notice from Russian authorities but suspects the move is part of a broader campaign to drive Western tech out of Russia’s digital landscape. The company emphasized that it cannot fix the issue, as the control lies entirely with local ISPs such as Rostelecom, Megafon, Vimpelcom, MTS, and MGTS. These providers are reportedly using advanced methods like packet injection and blocking to enforce the restrictions.

This campaign

Cloudflare’s infrastructure is vital for anti-censorship tools like Psiphon, which mask user activity from state surveillance. By choking access to these backbones, Russian ISPs undermine the entire ecosystem that helps citizens circumvent authoritarian internet controls. The throttling impacts all major protocols—HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and even the more advanced HTTP/3 running over QUIC—regardless of server location, making global workarounds ineffective.

Cloudflare has urged Russian site operators to appeal to local authorities, but the political climate offers little hope. Meanwhile, digital rights group Roskomsvoboda reports growing internet blackouts across over 30 regions. Though initially framed as defense measures against drone threats near the Ukrainian border, the scope has expanded significantly—reaching areas far from any conflict zones.

This escalation adds yet another layer to Russia’s digital iron curtain, a barrier aimed not just at keeping Western narratives out, but also at isolating Russian citizens from the global internet altogether.

What Undercode Say:

A Calculated Strike Against Digital Freedom

Russia’s latest throttling campaign is a strategic escalation in its digital sovereignty ambitions. Far from a reactionary move, the timing and scope suggest long-term planning aimed at fragmenting the internet along geopolitical lines. This is not about temporary censorship—it’s about constructing a permanent digital border that mirrors its physical one.

By targeting foundational providers like Cloudflare, Russia isn’t just disrupting websites—it’s attacking the internet’s infrastructure. Cloudflare protects millions of websites globally, many of which rely on its DDoS protection and CDN services for basic operability. Breaking access to this layer doesn’t just inconvenience users; it disarms online platforms of their security shields.

Equally significant is the fact that the throttling techniques work even when connecting to servers outside Russia. This implies sophisticated, possibly state-backed engineering at the ISP level. Using techniques like packet injection and session resets, Russian providers are implementing a form of “selective sabotage”—letting the first 16 KB through to give the illusion of connectivity before stalling everything else. It’s a psychological tactic as much as a technical one.

The collateral damage is vast. VPN services, encrypted messaging platforms, and cloud-hosted privacy tools are now broken by design. Psiphon, a key application for evading censorship, becomes functionally useless when Cloudflare’s infrastructure is neutered. The move forces Russian users into a corner, limiting them to state-sanctioned platforms or forcing them to adopt even riskier circumvention tools.

Moreover, the affected cloud providers—Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and OVH—are instrumental to tech startups, academic researchers, and NGOs. Their degradation isn’t just a blow to free speech but a barrier to innovation and education. By cutting off these services, Russia is effectively burning bridges that connect its tech ecosystem to the outside world.

The state’s silence is also telling. There’s been no official legislation or open declaration about this move, which aligns with Russia’s opaque governance style. This ambiguity allows the state to test reactions—both internal and international—before moving toward outright bans.

Roskomsvoboda’s reports about mobile internet shutdowns in over 30 regions only confirm the trend. These aren’t temporary wartime measures; they’re the foundation of a long-term strategy to build a sovereign, controllable internet. The Kremlin no longer sees the internet as a necessity but as a threat to its information control.

From a geopolitical standpoint, this action pushes Russia closer to China’s model of digital authoritarianism. It reflects a growing consensus among authoritarian regimes that the open internet is incompatible with centralized power.

The broader implication for the world is clear: global internet fragmentation is accelerating. As countries assert digital sovereignty, the idea of a free and open internet is becoming a relic. Platforms, protocols, and infrastructures that once symbolized freedom are now battlefields in an invisible cyber war.

For tech companies like Cloudflare, this marks a painful lesson: operating globally means adapting to hostile regulatory environments and sometimes being powerless in the face of state censorship. The hope that free-market tech could outmaneuver authoritarian regimes is fading fast.

🔍 Fact Checker Results:

✅ Throttling of Cloudflare and other Western services confirmed by multiple sources
✅ Russian ISPs including Rostelecom and MTS identified as enforcers of throttling
✅ Throttling impacts all HTTP protocols and external servers, as per Cloudflare’s analysis

📊 Prediction:

🌐 The Kremlin is likely to continue expanding its digital wall, targeting more global infrastructure providers in the coming months. Expect wider bans or access degradation across services like Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure, as Russia intensifies efforts to localize and control its internet. Surveillance tools will increase, and domestic tech alternatives will be heavily promoted as replacements.

References:

Reported By: www.bleepingcomputer.com
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