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Putin Is Building a North Korea-Style Internet for Russia
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia could sharply restrict public access to the global internet over the next two years as the Kremlin adopts information-control practices similar to those used in North Korea, according to Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD).
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Kovalenko said on August 10 that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is increasingly drawing on the experience of North Korea’s authoritarian system, including its approach to controlling access to information.
According to Kovalenko, internet restrictions expected in Russia over the coming two years could increasingly resemble the North Korean model, where ordinary users have extremely limited access to the global web and domestic information services operate under tight state control.
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He added that many Russians currently do not understand the scale of the restrictions they could eventually face. The warning comes as military and political cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang continues to deepen.
Kovalenko said North Korea is also seeking to learn from Russia’s war against Ukraine, particularly by gaining practical knowledge of modern warfare that could later be applied on the Korean Peninsula.
“Japan and South Korea will have to take more responsibility for security. One way or another, there is an authoritarian madman sitting in Pyongyang who is extremely similar to Putin,” Kovalenko said.
North Korea has already supplied Russia with ballistic missiles for use against Ukraine and has expanded its military involvement alongside Russian forces.
On August 6, reports indicated that Pyongyang had transferred more than 100 additional ballistic missiles to Russia together with specialized missile units. The Institute for the Study of War assessed that participation in Russia’s war gives North Korea opportunities to evaluate its weapons and military practices under real combat conditions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on August 9 that Russia is also preparing to deploy between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory.
Zelenskyy warned that North Korean personnel participating alongside Russia are gaining experience in contemporary warfare that could later create security risks for other countries in Asia.
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