Ukraine blocks access to Russian websites

Ukraine has blocked Russia’s largest social media and Internet services as a sanction against Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. The targeted sites include social networks VK.com and Odnoklassniki, as well as search engine Yandex and e-mail service Mail.ru. According to Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko, ‘The challenges of hybrid war demand adequate responses. Massive Russian cyber attacks across the world…show it is time to act differently and more decisively.’ The measure risks a backlash among the Ukrainian public, as these websites are widely popular in the country.