Ukraine blocked access to 3,948 websites in August, according to UAblocklist, the country’s tracker of restricted domains. Illegal online casinos accounted for the vast majority — 3,940 sites. Many of these domains were mirror sites for the same brands, most often 1win, Jet, and Mell.
Online casinos have been Ukraine’s top source of website blocks for several months running. Back in July, UAblocklist reported on its six-month tally, and casinos led there too.
Blocks on Russian streaming services were far less common. A three-month lull in that category ended in August, when six sites belonging to online movie platforms MUVEE and KinoVibe were restricted. Both services mainly target audiences in Russia and carry films banned in Ukraine.
August’s blocks also included a site posing as an official government resource. The domain gur-official.com.ua impersonated the website of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), even though the agency’s real site is gur.gov.ua. The fake was spotted by HUR’s own staff.
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Also blocked was BookStore, an online bookshop focused on Russian-language titles. Some listings named Lithuania as the country of publication, while several Ukrainian- and Russian-language books showed signs of being pirated editions.
YouTube saw its own cleanup in August, too. Ukraine blocked 15 channels, including those run by Russian war correspondents, pro-Kremlin “Z-bloggers,” and even the animated series “Masha and the Bear.” All three language versions of the show — Russian, English, and Ukrainian — were taken down. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) said the show had been used to spread Russian narratives to children.
One site, meanwhile, was unblocked in August. Ukraine’s National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCCC) restored access to Cig-Poshta, a service that delivers cigarettes across the country. The site was unblocked following a request from the Bureau of Economic Security, though the agency did not explain its reasoning.
Anyone can check whether a specific domain is blocked, and why, through the Register of Blocked Websites on UAblocklist’s site.
