The Ministry of Digital Development of Russia is considering the possibility of restricting the volume of foreign internet traffic for Russian users. According to Forbes, as part of the upcoming communications reform, the agency proposes routing all traffic from foreign domains through technical means of countering threats (TMCT) and setting limits on its use. Relevant provisions may be included in the bill on the telecommunication industry reform. Specific restriction figures have not yet been defined, while the Ministry of Digital Development confirmed that issues are being discussed jointly with the industry and other departments, and it is premature to speak about the final version of the amendments.
What is proposed for the restriction mechanism
The essence of the initiative comes down to two elements. First, operators are proposed to be obliged to route all traffic from foreign domains through TMCT — equipment that is already used for filtering, blocking, and slowing down internet resources. Second, the Ministry of Digital Development may obtain the right to determine the permissible volume of international traffic for users and restrict access after it is exceeded. According to available data, nearly 60 billion rubles are planned to be directed toward the development of filtering and blocking systems in 2027–2029. Thus, the discussed measure does not create a new tool from scratch, but expands the application of the already existing TMCT infrastructure.
Context: Telecommunications Industry Reform
The issue of limits is being discussed against the backdrop of a broader reform of the telecommunications industry, which has been raised since the spring of 2026. Among the main proposals is a reduction in the number of operator license types from 17 to three: basic, universal, and general. The new rules also provide for capital requirements for companies and the mandatory installation of operational-search activity systems and TMCT. Representatives of small operators express concerns that such changes will lead to price increases and a decrease in service availability. The idea of restricting international traffic has been voiced before: in March 2026, Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadaev proposed introducing a fee for using more than 15 GB of such traffic per month in mobile networks, although the initiative was postponed at the time. Now the issue may return as part of a comprehensive reform.
Technical Difficulties in Identifying Foreign Traffic
The main problem pointed out by experts is technically correctly determining which traffic is actually foreign. Data can pass through servers and networks in multiple countries even if a user accesses a Russian service. A significant part of internet exchange is associated with cloud platforms, content delivery networks, and direct IP addresses, so classification by IP addresses will not be completely accurate: a Russian website hosted on a foreign server may be considered foreign, and a foreign service on a Russian hosting may be domestic. In addition, encrypted DNS queries make it difficult to determine the domains a user accesses, which can reduce accounting to checking IP address lists that do not reflect the actual connection structure.
Who Might Be Affected by the Restrictions
According to industry estimates, not only circumvention tools operate through foreign addresses, but also Telegram, app stores, games, and Android and iOS update systems; such services account for about a third of traffic. Difficulties also arise in applying limits to individual subscribers: TMCT are located at external network junctions and can see traffic after network address translation, when a single IP address is used by thousands of users. For individual restriction, an operator would have to transmit subscriber connection data in real time, which further complicates the implementation of the mechanism. Against this background, specific limits and the procedure for their application remain uncertain.
