Russian government begins Internet isolation exercises

Russian government agencies have begun a series of exercises designed under the country’s recent “Internet sovereignty” law, Deputy Communications Minister Alexey Sokolov told RIA Novosti. The exercises, which must take place at least once a year, are intended to enable Russian Internet traffic to be contained within Russian territory in case of a threat to the Russian segment of the World Wide Web.

“Today, we’re working on threats in the sphere of electrical power. We’re planning to have similar exercises for transport, the industrial complex, and a number of other areas,” Sokolov said.

The Communications Ministry assured Russian Internet users on December 19 that the exercises shold not affect them because they will take place in isolated facilities and be used for research purposes only.