YouTube and other Google services to decline in Russia due to equipment problems

YouTube is going to slow down in Russia due to problems with Google equipment located in the country, Rostelecom said. The download speed and playback quality of YouTube videos may decrease considerably.

There are technical problems with Google's equipment used to run YouTube, Rostelecom said in a statement.

It goes about the equipment that is used to cache and speed up the loading of content from Google services — the Google Global Cache system.

"Due to problems with the operation of this equipment and the impossibility of expanding it in the face of growing traffic, the existing capacities, including at peer-to-peer connections, are overloaded. This may affect the download speed and quality of playback of YouTube videos for subscribers of all Russian operators,” Rostelecom said. The press service of Rostelecom clarified that it goes about the equipment that is physically located in Russia, on Rostelecom's networks.

According to Mediascope, in April of this year, the number of users who visited the YouTube website or application in Russia at least once a month amounted to 95.86 million people (among the population over 12 years old).

Konstantin Kolesov, the head of strategic development of data transmission for VimpelCom told RBC that YouTube was number one service in terms of user traffic in Russia. At the same time, as Google Global Cache servers located in Russia fail operators receive an increasing amount of traffic from abroad.

In May 2022, it was reported that Google decided to remove some of the Google Global Cache servers from Russia. The company then notified several Russian providers of the termination of contracts for their service. Later, market participants said that operators began to expand the number of direct connections with Google to increase the bandwidth for the traffic necessary to quickly download content from the company.

Google services in Russia to crumble

Possible disruptions in the operation of YouTube in Russia, which Rostelecom announced on July 12 are not associated with the intention of the operator to block YouTube in Russia. The problem has emerged due to outdated equipment, and it will affect all Google services, director of the Internet Protection Society Foundation Mikhail Klimarev believes.

"This equipment is called Global Google Cache. This equipment works to download YouTube videos from the equipment of telecom operators rather than from somewhere in California. Due to the fact that Google left Russia it does not provide any equipment, of course.

"Two and a half years have passed, and the equipment that was installed on the networks of telecom operators is slowly becoming unusable. It goes out of order. There is nothing to replace it with, there is no one to repair it either. This infrastructure is going to crumble, and the quality of YouTube and all of Google services in Russia is going to decline," Mikhail Klimarev said.

Soon after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia blocked access to hundreds of resources, including Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta, which was recognized as extremist group and banned in Russia. Roskomnadzor (Russian federal media watchdog) announced that YouTube was "a key platform for disseminating false information about the special military operation and other anti-Russian content.” In addition, the Russian authorities accuse the platform of censorship: in 2024 YouTube blocked 83 Russian channels and continues blocking them today Roskomnadzor said.

In 2022, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev excluding a possibility to shut down YouTube in Russia; a year later, he said that the department's position had not changed.

Russia to block YouTube in September

According to most recent reports, YouTube is going to be blocked in September of this year, Gazeta.ru publication reports with reference to its sources (one of them is said to be close to the presidential administration).

“Throughout July-August there will be some degradation happening and YouTube will slow down in some regions of Russia and some others the site and the app may work improperly and crash. The process to block YouTube will start in September," the newspaper said.

However, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on July 12 that the Russian authorities have no intention to block YouTube. 

"Russia is not going to restrict access to YouTube, it goes about equipment problems," Peskov said.