The regions of the North Caucasus Federal District tested blocking the foreign segment of the Internet
Since December 6, access to foreign resources has been restricted for a day in Dagestan - until 16:00 on December 7. This was reported by local telecom operators. The region experienced disruptions in the operation of messengers, in particular WhatsApp and Telegram. According to the Dagestani publication Chernovik, access to some sites and services has also been blocked in Ingushetia and Chechnya.
The operator Elko noted that such measures were taken by Roskomnadzor as part of exercises "to practice scenarios for disabling access to the foreign segment of the network."
Reports of problems with access to Telegram in Dagestan and Ingushetia appeared back in late October. The CEO of the Dagestani Internet provider Energoinform, Khadzhimurat Saidov, recommended accessing the messenger through a VPN. The Ministry of Digital Development responded to this by stating that there are no problems with communications in Dagestan.
Recently, the Dagestani publication Novoye Delo suggested that federal authorities could use the North Caucasus regions as a testing ground for blocking the foreign segment of the Internet, similar to the Chinese Golden Shield system.
Roskomnadzor announced similar plans in November, emphasizing, however, that the checks would not block Russian users' access to the network.
“The goal of the exercises is to confirm the readiness of the Russian Internet infrastructure to ensure the availability of key foreign and Russian services in the event of deliberate external influence,” Roskomnadzor noted.
