After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it became clear that the conflict would result in devastating loss of life with implications for the whole planet.
As countries around the world implemented the broadest sanctions regime in history against Russia, entire nations and their industries prepared for the aftershocks and entertainment was no exception. Companies including Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. suspended all new theatrical releases and shortly after, Netflix announced the closure of its service in Russia. Gaming platforms have been affected too.
These and similar actions raised the possibility that traffic to pirate sites might increase in Russia. It’s a little too early to conduct a broad analysis but local reports suggest that infamous Russian torrent site RuTracker received a massive boost in traffic in early March and then took measures to restrict access. That said, there’s a fairly complex picture to unpack.
RuTracker is Subjected to Permanent Blocking in Russia
RuTracker is one of the most popular torrent sites on the Internet and has been for some time but copyright holders have done their best to hold the tracker back. The site is currently operating under an ‘eternal lock’ in Russia meaning that local ISPs should never unblock it.
However, a suggestion from a Russian politician that RuTracker should be unblocked to counter sanctions led to much speculation that the site (and others like it) might soon become widely available again. The complication is that this type of move would run contrary to Russia law.
Nevertheless, in early March rumors suggested that RuTracker had been removed from Russia’s blacklist, enabling previously blocked users to access the site once again. We saw no change in Russia’s registry of blocked sites, which clearly lists two decisions handed down by the Moscow City Court dating back to 2015.
However, it turns out that RuTracker.org was indeed unblocked and while that is surprising in itself, there is much more to the story.
RuTracker’s Traffic Surged
In 2016, Herman Klimenko became Vladimir Putin’s key adviser on Internet-related affairs but after less than three years, he was dismissed. Klimenko had previously criticized the blocking of pirate sites but it transpired he had a horse in the race – he was the reported owner of the company behind Torrnado.ru, a locally operated torrent site.
Given his background, Klimenko often turns up in Russian media and in recent comments to Kommersant, he reported that RuTracker had received a 40% surge in traffic on March 6-7.
“Now the demand of users has shifted to pirated streaming services, such as [streaming site] Kinopub, it is unlikely that torrents will continue to actively gain popularity,” he said, suggesting that the increase might be temporary.
While any increase in traffic is usually appreciated, RuTracker received not only a boost in Russian users but also the attention of a top Putin ally.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Accessed RuTracker
Despite all of the chaos in Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was present at a meeting this month where local rightsholders complained that blocked pirate sites simply reappear under a new domain or are still accessible. Medvedev then reportedly got out his iPad and accessed rutracker.org without any issue.
It later transpired that a local ISP undergoing liquidation had fired all of its technical staff and as a result, blocking wasn’t being properly implemented. This was reported to Russian telecoms regulator Roscomnadzor but it’s not clear what action was taken. RuTracker had its own plan, however.
RuTracker Blocks Russian IP Addresses
In response to the new traffic, RuTracker implemented a Russian IP address blockade. It’s not the usual reaction to being unblocked but the torrent site had its reasons.
“Possible unlocking of the RuTracker carries certain risks for our users who will access it from their IP addresses without using a VPN. Copyright holders did not go anywhere, no one canceled [the laws] about piracy,” a site representative said.
“We are also not looking for communication with state bodies of Russia demanding to give them personal data of users. Therefore, in the current situation, we are categorically against and will prevent such an ‘unlock’.”
RuTracker also revealed that it had experienced DDoS attacks and a mass sign-up of user accounts with Chinese IP addresses. These were determined to be driven by bots so, in addition to banning Russian IP addresses, RuTracker banned Chinese IP addresses too.
RuTracker Appears to Be Against the War
Following the invasion of Ukraine, RuTracker changed its logo to incorporate the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag. The change was short-lived but perhaps gave an early sign that despite being a Russia-focused site, it is not in favor of the war.
In comments published in local media, RuTracker stops short of condemning the Kremlin but does state that “in the current situation [RuTracker] does not support any actions of the Russian authorities.”
New sign-ups to RuTracker are currently closed but will open again in the coming weeks. Russian users will need a VPN, which will also come in handy for viewing another perspective on the ‘special operation’.
