Russia will not be kicked off the internet.

This was decided by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).

In an open reply letter to Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Icann President Goran Marby writes that his organization was created to secure the operation of the Internet.

Now, to deliberately interrupt parts of the network's operation would run counter to this role and go beyond Icann's mandate.

Stephen Finsterbusch

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

Icann, along with the entire international community, is aware of the horrors being inflicted on Ukraine.

But it is an independent technical organization that shows solidarity but is committed to neutrality.

It is one of the supporting pillars of data traffic in the global networks and does not have a coordinating role, but a functional one.

It must guarantee the stable and secure exchange of data globally, regardless of political developments.

No Powers

After the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, Fedorov asked Icann at the end of February whether Russia's access to the Internet could be blocked.

To this end, specific country codes such as the .ru address zone should be blocked in the global Internet infrastructure, the certificates issued should be collected again and so-called root servers in Russia should be shut down.

In his letter, Marby made it clear that this would not be technically possible.

“The Internet is a decentralized system.

No actor has the ability to control or turn it off.”

The German Internet medium "Heise-Online" first reported on the open letter from the President of Icann.

In it, Marby writes that, as a non-profit organization under civil law, Icann has no state powers whatsoever.

Cooperation with other organizations, for example for registrations and assignments, is regulated by private network operators and civil law contracts.

Icann was founded for this in 1998.

The Society is headquartered in Los Angeles and registered as an organization in California.

Moscow follows Beijing

In order for the Internet to work, certain names and addresses must be unique in the global network.

These awards and assignments are among the most important tasks of Icann.

In addition, the Internet Society, also based in the USA, a non-governmental organization based in the USA and Switzerland, which is responsible for the existence and further development of the Internet, pointed out that anyone who has access to the network of must also be able to use networks – whether attackers or victims.

However, as early as the early 2000s, China began to break away from these alliances and set up a kind of internet of its own.

Russia followed the same path after invading Crimea in 2014, as the Kremlin wants to follow a similar path to Beijing in terms of network technology.

China's regime can use special filter systems to control data traffic with other countries and censor content within its borders and manipulate it in a targeted manner.