Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Churchill’s legendary speech seems just as relevant today, 80 years after it happened.
In 1946, then Prime Minister of the UK, Winston Churchill, stated: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
He was referring to the Soviet Union seperating the Eastern Bloc of Europe, then under Soviet control, from the West, crackin down on communication, travel, trade and more.
It is now 80 years later, and Churchill has long since passed away – but his famous words are as relevant today, as they were then.
Because the Kremlin seems to be creating a new Iron Curtain – a digital one.
Expanding control
The Moscow Times reported on March 12 that Russian authorities are introducing a “white list” model that restricts internet traffic to government-approved websites, apps and network routes.
Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Information Policy Committee, confirmed the initiative. According to Russian media cited by The Moscow Times, the list will include key services such as banking platforms, marketplaces, mobile operators, email providers and digital payment systems.
Speaking to a state news channel, Svintsov said the infrastructure could be fully operational within two to three weeks. Authorities are mapping network routes in advance to prevent “severe problems” during the nationwide rollout.
Early disruptions
Despite those assurances, monitoring groups report widespread connectivity failures during testing.
The monitoring project Na Svyazi says the system has already been activated in 71 Russian regions. At the same time, outright mobile internet shutdowns have been recorded in 68 regions, The Moscow Times reported.
Moscow itself experienced disruptions last week, with residents in central districts reporting total outages or access limited only to approved sites.
Orders from above
Sources cited by the technology outlet Kod Durova said the system is also being tested on the Moscow metro network.
Telecom insiders told the newspaper Kommersant that internet throttling orders came directly “from above”. Operators across the capital were reportedly instructed to reduce connectivity as part of the rollout.
The restrictions are already carrying an economic cost. A telecom source told Kommersant that five days of disruption in the Moscow region alone caused losses of between 3 and 5 billion rubles.
Global shutdown leader
Researchers at Top10VPN, cited by The Moscow Times, estimate Russia lost roughly 1 trillion rubles in 2025 due to deliberate throttling, regional outages and social media bans.
Their data shows Russia imposed 37,166 hours of internet shutdowns in 2025, affecting most of the country’s 146 million residents. That total far exceeds Pakistan, Myanmar and Equatorial Guinea.
According to reports, the whitelist system is only the first stage of a broader censorship effort led by communications regulator Roskomnadzor, which plans to introduce AI-powered traffic filtering later in 2026. Officials describe the effort as protecting “digital sovereignty”.
Sources: The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Kod Durova, Top10VPN
