Vladimir Putin said on February 20 that Russia must defend itself against the threat of foreign powers trying to disable the country’s access to the global Internet. In effect, the president endorsed legislation now working its way through parliament that would authorize the state to control the exchange points connecting Russia’s Internet resources to the outside world’s. On February 12, the State Duma adopted the first reading of this “Internet-isolation” bill.
Meduza initially published an incomplete version of this quote that distorted the meaning of Putin's comments. We apologize for the confusion.
Photo on front page: Alexander Zemlyanichenko / AP / Scanpix / LETA