Russian authorities have taken steps to block access to major news sources and information from the Wagner mercenary group as it advanced towards Moscow. This has led to a proliferation of rumors and misinformation surrounding the events. According to the nonprofit group NetBlocks, Russia’s largest digital provider, Rostelecom, along with at least four other major internet service providers, blocked access to Google News starting Friday night. Additionally, Telegram, a popular messaging and social networking program in Russia, experienced significant outages in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities along the route to the capital.
While the internet remained broadly functional, searches for Wagner leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin on Yandex, Russia’s equivalent of Google, yielded notices that some results were hidden in accordance with federal law. The Russian social network VKontakte also blocked content related to Prigozhin. One of the VKontakte groups with nearly half a million subscribers, which Wagner used to post job openings and promote its fighting force in Ukraine, was also blocked.
These recent blocking actions illustrate Russia’s increased ability to control the flow of information within the country, particularly since the start of the Ukraine war 16 months ago. Major international digital services like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok were previously blocked in Russia, except for those using virtual private networks. Local companies, including Yandex, have faced escalating controls from Russian internet authority Roskomnadzor.
Telegram has been a crucial source of information about events in Ukraine, especially due to its international user base and presence outside of Russia. However, on Saturday, the platform was inundated with false information, including on channels claiming affiliation with the Wagner Group that were managed by Prigozhin supporters. Conflicting reports regarding Wagner and even Russian President Vladimir Putin circulated on Twitter accounts dedicated to tracking the war.
The blocking of news sources and the spread of misinformation are characteristic of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a renowned propagandist known for his involvement in manipulating the 2016 U.S. presidential election through the Internet Research Agency. Prigozhin was indicted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III for interfering in the election. The Justice Department halted the prosecution of one of Prigozhin’s companies in 2020 due to national security concerns but expressed its intention to continue pursuing Prigozhin and other individuals named in the case.
Overall, these recent developments demonstrate Russia’s increasing control over internet access and the dissemination of information, creating a challenging environment for reliable reporting and access to accurate news.
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