Russia's internet is being reshaped in real time. The FSB launched a simultaneous offensive this spring — mass blocking of VPN protocols, pressure on platforms to filter traffic, and the effective blocking of Telegram, now accessible only via VPN. On 3 April, a major banking outage left millions unable to make payments, with cash briefly becoming the only option — and the tightening of digital restrictions may have played a role.

Behind the headlines, however, the picture is more complex. The crackdown has opened visible rifts within the ruling establishment over the pace and scope of restrictions, with the approaching Duma elections raising the political stakes. The policy is being driven by the security bloc, but resistance is coming from unexpected quarters — and Putin's own role in the process is more ambiguous than it appears.

I have just released R.Politik Bulletin No. 7 (181), examining the internet crackdown in depth — who is driving it, who is pushing back, and what the emerging "white list" framework reveals about the kind of internet Russia is actually building.

The bulletin also covers the broader strategic picture. Moscow's reading of the Iran war and the US-Iran negotiations is reinforcing the Kremlin's maximalist stance on Ukraine — with Trump's credibility as a negotiating partner continuing to erode.

At home, the economic pressures of a prolonged war are being managed through increasingly creative mechanisms. At Putin's RSPP congress, the wartime dynamic between the state and big business was on full display — with oligarchs pledging 'voluntary' contributions to the budget in an environment that leaves increasingly little room for economic actors to maintain distance from the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, a new draft AI law is positioning the security services at the centre of Russia's technology future, with Western companies set to be effectively locked out — another front in the broader push for state control over strategic sectors.

The same logic of wartime consolidation is visible in the corporate clash between Rosatom and Delo Group over Russia's largest logistics holding — a dispute that risks escalating well beyond its commercial origins.

And as the September Duma elections approach, the Kremlin is signalling caution: the Central Election Committee has undergone the most conservative renewal in its history — a deliberate choice that speaks to the risks the leadership foresees in a wartime electoral cycle.

Separately, Pashinyan's visit to Moscow laid bare the growing tension in Russian-Armenian relations, with Putin publicly drawing lines on Armenia's Westward drift ahead of parliamentary elections in Yerevan.

The full analysis is available in the new R.Politik Bulletin No. 7 (181)