Russia has taken a new step towards its digital independence strategy with the temporary blocking of Cloudflare services, one of the leading web infrastructure and content distribution (CDN) platforms globally. The decision, driven by the regulatory body Roskomnadzor, has sparked a debate about the level of control the Russian government intends to exert over its cyberspace and its actual ability to operate autonomously, outside the global internet infrastructure.
The conflict originated in November 2024, when the Internet Monitoring and Control Center (CMU SSOP), under Roskomnadzor, publicly denounced Cloudflare’s adoption of the Encrypted ClientHello (ECH) protocol. This protocol is designed to protect the privacy of encrypted connections, making it difficult for third parties to intercept and monitor traffic, which Russian authorities deemed a direct threat to the country’s “digital sovereignty.” As an initial response, Russia blocked all encrypted connections using ECH, a move that hinted at potentially more severe restrictions in the future.
In December 2024, the Russian government took a further step by organizing total disconnection tests in several remote regions of the country. The aim was to assess whether public services, strategic companies, and government agencies could continue to operate without access to foreign services or the international internet infrastructure.
The most significant test occurred in March 2025, when Roskomnadzor ordered the partial and temporary blocking of Cloudflare’s network in certain areas of the country, starting in the Novosibirsk region and extending to other territories in central and eastern Russia. According to reports published by the media outlet Solidot, this measure unevenly affected different internet service providers (ISPs), leaving thousands of websites and services that rely on Cloudflare’s infrastructure for speed, security, and protection against cyberattacks inaccessible.
Cloudflare detected the issues on March 22, 2025, and registered disruptions that lasted for 11 consecutive hours. According to data from Cloudflare Radar, some providers, such as ZSTTKAS (AS21127), saw their HTTP traffic drop to nearly zero. Once the test was over, access returned to normal, but the message was clear: Russia can disconnect part of the global internet if it so wishes, at least regionally.
An interesting point is that some users managed to access platforms using Cloudflare through secure connections based on the TLS protocol. This suggests that the blocking measure was implemented at the level of specific IPs or through traffic filtering, without blocking the domains themselves or affecting HTTPS SNI-based traffic, a technique that masks domain requests in encrypted connections.
The Russian strategy is part of a broader plan known as “sovereign Runet,” aiming to create a self-sufficient national internet that can remain operational even in the event of forced disconnection from the rest of the world. This policy seeks to reduce dependence on foreign providers and protect against international sanctions or cyber conflicts.
However, the blockage has raised concerns within the tech community and among advocates for a free and open internet. Experts warn that digital isolation could negatively impact innovation, economic development, and the country’s global competitiveness. Moreover, limiting access to critical infrastructures like Cloudflare could increase vulnerability to local cyberattacks and compromise the resilience of public and private services.
In a geopolitical context marked by tensions and sanctions, Russia continues to advance towards a model of state control over its digital space. The big question is to what extent this strategy will strengthen its security or, conversely, end up isolating its digital economy in an increasingly interconnected world.
via: Security News