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Russian media watchdog unblocks over 130,000 IP addresses belonging to Microsoft subnet

On January 22, the Russian media watchdog unblocked 2.7 mln IP addresses belonging to Amazon

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Russia’s media watchdog (Roskomnadzor) has unblocked over 130,000 IP addresses belonging to a Microsoft subnet, says a statement from the watchdog.

"Roskomnadzor has lifted a ban from a Microsoft IP subnet, which consists of more than 130,000 IP addresses," the statement reads.

According to the watchdog’s spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky, experts figured out that the Telegram messaging service, banned in Russia, had stopped using those subnets to ensure its functioning a long time ago.

On January 22, the Russian media watchdog unblocked 2.7 mln IP addresses belonging to Amazon.

Telegram issue

In December 2017, Telegram’s top managers filed a lawsuit with Russia’s Supreme Court asking that an order of the Federal Security Service (FSB), which demanded decryption keys for users’ messages, be declared void. On March 20, the Supreme Court turned the request down.

On April 13, 2018, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court ruled to block access to Telegram in Russia over its failure to implement the FSB’s order. On April 16, the Russian media watchdog received the court’s ruling on restricting access to Telegram. On the same day, mobile operators began to take steps to block Telegram in compliance with the court’s decision.

At the same time, the watchdog started blocking access to numerous IP addresses belonging to Amazon and Google, which Telegram used to avoid restrictions. As a result, reports started coming about failures of third party websites that also used those hosting services.