close
close

Russia blocks signal, restricts YouTube as military incursion into Ukraine prompts evacuation of 16,000 civilians

Posted on by angelo
Russia blocks signal, restricts YouTube as military incursion into Ukraine prompts evacuation of 16,000 civilians

The cross-border attack by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region has entered its fifth day, with the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledging that it “continues to repel” the offensive that has shocked the Kremlin leadership and the population.

But that has apparently led to a crackdown on U.S.-based social media platforms and messaging apps. On Friday and Saturday, there were numerous reports of Russia blocks messaging app Signal, restricts YouTube.

State media regulator Roskomnadzor told RBC business daily on Friday that Signal has been banned from the country for “violations” of national legislation.

The restriction was imposed “due to violations of the requirements of Russian legislation, compliance with which is necessary to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes,” Roskomnadzor said.

The statement came on Friday, hours after users across Russia complained of widespread outages of the secure messaging app that allows communication via encrypted texts and calls.

Russian opposition activists and independent journalists critical of the Kremlin have complained that the move targets them primarily, as they rely heavily on Signal for reporting and speaking to sources. Russia similarly banned the messaging app Telegram in 2018.

As for YouTube, even though it has not been banned, users have I noticed that loading speeds decrease significantly. In some regions of Russia, users reported that the network was inaccessible. Indeed, convoys of Russian reserve and national defense were observed in large numbers on Russian highways heading south.

Al Jazeera interviewed users and wrote this week:

Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said thousands of problems had been reported on Thursday, with users saying they could only access the platform via virtual private networks (VPNs).

“YouTube is not working” said an anonymous user in the comments on the site.

Reuters journalists in Russia were unable to access YouTube, but the site remained accessible on some mobile devices.

A Russian political scientist named Boris Pastukhov, who runs a popular YouTube channel, said: “We have seen that some regions lose YouTube connectivity altogether or slow down by 90% for a few days, which is not really explained by the age of the servers.”

There are fears that YouTube could be the next to be blocked by the Kremlin authorities, but this move would be very unpopular with the Russian population. According to estimates, more than 50 million Russians use YouTube every day.

At this point 16,000 Russians living near southern border areas forced to evacuate their homes in the context of the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive.

According to a regional summary of Saturday’s events:

Moscow held a conference on Saturday “Anti-terrorist operation” in three border regions The Russians said the fighting threatened to endanger a nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian units stormed Russia’s western Kursk region on Tuesday morning in a shock attack, kyiv’s largest and most successful cross-border offensive in two and a half years of conflict.

His troops advanced several kilometers and The Russian military sent additional reserves and equipment, including tank convoys, rocket launchers and aviation units. – although neither side has provided specific details on the scale of the forces involved.

The Russian nuclear agency warned on Saturday that Ukrainian attack poses ‘direct threat’ to nearby Kursk nuclear power plant.

At least 16,000 civilians have left their homes in Russian border areas, where emergency aid and medical supplies have been delivered, and additional trains to the capital Moscow have been arranged for those fleeing.

President Putin accused Ukrainian troops of “shooting indiscriminately with various types of weaponsincluding missiles, on civilian facilities, residential buildings and ambulances. US-supplied equipment, particularly Bradley Fighting Vehicles, was observed during the assault.

Verifiable information from the combat zones in Kursk is scarce. Each side claims successes and advances, but as we explained on Friday, President Putin and the Kremlin’s top leadership were caught off guard by these unexpected developments.

As scenes like the ones described below are currently playing out in Russia’s southern regions, Moscow is likely poised to strike hard at Ukraine, but it must first restore stability and security in Kursk, Belgorod and Lipetsk.

Government of the Kursk region of Russia/AP

With proof of a large-scale deployment of tanks on its own territory In order to repel the Ukrainian invaders, Russia will most likely accelerate its war in Ukraine. This is indeed a significant turning point, and the fact that the United States seems to be positively supporting kyiv’s cross-border operation does not help matters.

Loading…