Ukraine's occupied internet

Hi, it’s Ryan in Edinburgh. Ukraine’s internet is under attack from Russian forces too. But first…The Bloomberg Technology Summit kicks off [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s Ryan in Edinburgh. Ukraine’s internet is under attack from Russian forces too. But first… The Bloomberg Technology Summit kicks off on Wednesday, featuring interviews with the CEOs of Amazon, Uber and more. You can [register here]( to attend in person in San Francisco, or to watch online. Today’s must-reads: • A Twitter shareholder is suing the company over internal files about [spam and fake accounts]( • The Pentagon’s new AI chief is vowing to crack “[bureaucratic inertia](” around military tech development • Waymo will connect its [autonomous trucking]( operation to Uber Freight The battle for the internet As soldiers in Ukraine continue to fight off Russian advances in the east of the country, another battle is taking place away from the front lines. It’s a war for control of Ukraine’s internet. In areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation, internet access has often been shut down or disrupted, leaving the local population isolated from the rest of the world. Now, a new trend is emerging: The internet is coming back online, but the traffic is no longer managed by Ukraine. It’s been re-routed to networks owned by the Russian government. In mid-May, an internet provider called Status in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was raided by Russian soldiers and its owners forced to connect to a network in Crimea, according to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection. By May 30, Status’s internet traffic had been configured to flow through Miranda Media, a Crimea-based affiliate of the Russian-state owned telecommunications firm Rostelecom, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks. The change means users’ data may now be monitored by a Russian government surveillance system known as SORM, while their ability to freely browse the internet may also be restricted, according to Victor Zhora, deputy chief of Ukraine's information protection service. “Use of the SORM system is unthinkable in Ukraine. These kind of surveillance systems Russia has in place clearly violate human rights,” Zhora says. “The enemy’s objective is to strip our people’s access to true information, making only Russian propaganda available.” Citizens in occupied cities such as Kherson now face a difficult choice: Be disconnected from the internet and unable to communicate with loved ones, or connect to a network operating under the watchful eye of the Russian state. Many have chosen the latter option—despite the disapproval of Ukrainian authorities. Hudz Dmitriy Aleksandrovich is the chief executive officer of Skynet, a small internet provider in Kherson. After Russia captured the city in early March, Aleksandrovich’s customers could no longer access the internet and were left isolated from friends and family. The only way he could get them back online was to connect to Miranda, the Russian-controlled network. He decided to do it. Now, he says in an interview, Ukraine’s security service has accused him of being a traitor and arrested and jailed one of his colleagues in the nearby region of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which is still under Ukrainian control. He fears he could be arrested, too, but he is currently beyond the reach of Ukrainian authorities in Kherson. “If you are doctor you will help people, everybody,” says Aleksandrovich. “I’m not a traitor. We are an internet provider – we should help people. This is my duty.” The Ukrainian security service didn’t respond to a message seeking comment about Aleksandrovich’s allegations. Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites have provided a lifeline in some occupied areas, enabling internet access when fixed lines are disconnected. But Starlink’s service is not widely used in the country. As of early May, Starlink in Ukraine had about 150,000 active users, [according to]( Ukraine’s vice prime minister. That’s less than 0.5% of Ukraine’s population. In total, there are more than 700 internet providers based in Ukrainian territories that are currently under Russian occupation, according to Liliia Malon, commissioner of Ukraine’s digital infrastructure and services regulator. All of those providers are vulnerable to Russian interference, Malon says. “For the Russian occupiers, it’s a target and objective to destroy our internet infrastructure or just to capture it,” says Malon. “But we really believe and hope this territory will come back to us very soon and this problem will disappear.” —[Ryan Gallagher](mailto:rgallagher76@bloomberg.net) The big story All smartphones and tablets would have to use a common charger under a new provisional European Union agreement. The [plan would force]( all companies—most notably Apple—to make phones, tablets, e-readers and digital cameras use the USB-C charger, negotiators said. What else you need to know Online car dealer Cazoo [is cutting jobs]( due to rising recession risks. ByteDance is considering [selling a minority stake]( in Poizon, an online sneaker marketplace. Google, Amazon and tech trade groups are [intensifying their lobbying]( of US senators who are undecided on an antitrust bill. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. 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