In August, Ukraine restricted access to 3,948 websites. Almost the entire list, 3,940 resources, fell on illegal online casinos and their numerous “mirrors.” Also blocked were the fake GUR website, Russian online cinemas, a bookstore, and even three versions of “Masha and the Bear” on YouTube.
In August, Ukraine restricted access to 3,948 websites. Almost the entire list, 3,940 resources, fell on illegal online casinos and their numerous “mirrors.” Also blocked were the fake GUR website, Russian online cinemas, a bookstore, and even three versions of “Masha and the Bear” on YouTube.
This is stated in the August UAblocklist review.
One of the most notable cases is gur-official.com.ua. The domain masqueraded as the official website of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to UAblocklist, it was noticed by GUR employees themselves. However, the review does not specify why the fake resource was created and whether it was used, for example, to collect user data.
However, illegal gambling again became the main "supplier" of blocked domains in August. A significant part of the sites are alternative domains of the same services, which are launched instead of already blocked addresses. Most often, UAblocklist found "mirrors" of the brands 1win, Jet and Mell.
Russian online cinemas have also been restricted again. These are MUVEE and KinoVibe — a total of six sites. According to UAblocklist, the services were aimed primarily at the Russian audience and offered, in particular, films banned in Ukraine. The online book store BookStore was also blocked. It focused on Russian-language literature. Some of their books also had signs of pirated copies.
Separately, in August, they took on YouTube. In Ukraine, 15 channels were blocked — among them, the channels of Russian military intelligence officers and Z-bloggers. They also blocked three versions of the animated series “Masha and the Bear” at once: in Russian, Ukrainian, and English. The Center for Countering Disinformation explained that the blocking should reduce Russian information influence on Ukrainian children and limit the monetization of the Ukrainian audience.
Amid thousands of blockings, there was also a reverse case. The National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Electronic Communication Networks restored access to Cig-Poshta, a website that sells cigarettes with delivery across Ukraine. According to UAblocklist, the resource was unblocked after the Bureau of Economic Security requested it. Why exactly the BEB asked to restore access to it is not explained in the open data.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that illegal online casinos have learned to quickly bypass blocking using new domains. According to the head of PlayCity Gennady Novikov, operators can distribute current "mirrors" to users manually via Telegram.
