Russia disconnected from the worldwide internet during tests in June and July, a Russian news service, RBC, reported on Thursday.The information for the report came from documents from a Russian internet security working group.Russia passed a law in late 2019 that aims to protect the Russian part of the internet from outside threats.The "sovereign internet" law was in answer to what Russia called the "aggressive nature" of the United States' national cyber security policies.The law increased Moscow's control over connections within Russia to the worldwide network and caused concern among free speech activists.They feared the move would strengthen government power over the country's cyberspace, which is called "Runet" because the country's internet addresses end in "ru."Held from June 15 to July 15, the tests involved all four of Russia's major telecoms companies.RBC reported that someone in the working group said early results showed they were successful and added,"The purpose of the tests is to determine the ability of the Runet to work in case of external distortions, blocks and other threats."
