Central Asian Nations Seek Digital Independence from Russia
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are striving to reduce their digital dependence on Russia and tilt their economic attention a bit more to the West. The two countries are moving forward with a plan to lay a fiber-optic cable beneath the Caspian Sea to establish a connection with Azerbaijan.
At present, virtually all Kazakhstan’s and Uzbekistan’s Internet traffic passes through Russian-controlled systems. Uzbekistan’s Internet connections to the outside world even must pass through Kazakhstan before reaching Russia, where the Kremlin has significantly tightened its control over Internet traffic since launching its unprovoked attack on Ukraine in 2022. Kazakhstan already has two fiber-optic cable connections with Chinese networks, but Kazakh authorities are reportedly hesitant to expand in that direction, given China’s well-known reputation for monitoring and controlling the flow of digital information.
Uzbekistan apparently is engaging a Saudi-based firm, DataVolt, to help build out a fiber-optic connection. In comments broadcast October 21 on a state-controlled television channel, DataVolt CEO Rajit Nanda described the cable project as vital for the country’s economic modernization program. He added that DataVolt was striving to forge partnerships with American tech giants, such as Oracle and Amazon, to expand Uzbekistan’s digital economy.
“It's important for us to create alternative [data transmission] routes,” he said, adding that a trans-Caspian fiber-optic line was of “strategic and economic importance for Uzbekistan,” offering “limitless potential.”
The project “will not only ensure secure communications but can also generate multi-billion-dollar benefits,” Nanda added. He did not provide details on when or how Uzbekistan would plug into a pending undersea fiber-optic line that will connect Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. The three countries are also collaborating on an ambitious plan to lay a power-transmission line beneath the Caspian.
Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev, in an interview published by the Kazinfom news agency ahead of his October 21 visit to Astana, described a trans-Caspian digital connection as a “significant infrastructure project,” indicating it will provide a major boost for development of the US- and European Union-backed Middle Corridor trade network.
“Transport and logistics cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is a strategically important area, opening up new opportunities for economic growth and the integration of regional markets,” Aliyev said. “The Middle Corridor plays a key role in ensuring sustainable and efficient communications between our countries.”
Aliyev went on to say that construction of the undersea cable between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is proceeding under an agreement signed this past spring. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2026.
In Astana, Aliyev and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev toured an artificial intelligence lab, where they were briefed on an initiative to use an AI application to assist in the laying of the fiber-optic line along the Caspian seabed.
Tokayev made special reference to the fiber-optic cable project in a statement issued following his formal talks with Aliyev. “We underlined the importance of accelerating projects to lay a Caspian subsea fiber-optic communication line,” adding that relevant government officials “have been instructed to make sure that it is completed as soon as possible.”
Tokayev indicated that the fiber-optic connection with Azerbaijan was a foundational element of his blueprint to ensure Kazakhstan’s future economic competitiveness, as outlined in his early September state-of-the-nation address.
“Given the rapid development of artificial intelligence, vast opportunities are emerging in the IT sector,” the October 21 presidential statement noted. “Kazakhstan has gained experience in the digitalization of public services and the development of IT technologies, and we are ready to implement joint projects in this area.”
Commentary: Russia trying to build a digital iron curtain
Blocked calls and Internet blackouts disrupt daily life, fueling annoyance.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds on, Moscow is waging another battle at home against the Internet, resulting in widespread digital blackouts and, more recently, restrictions on WhatsApp and Telegram calls.
The Kremlin’s growing capabilities to throttle the web may establish a disconcerting precedent for other authoritarian-minded governments in the region. At the same time, the Russian government’s actions raise questions about whether there are limits to Russians’ tolerance for daily inconveniences and increasing constraints.
For over 10 years, Russian president Vladimir Putin has tried to tighten control of the country’s Internet. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine only accelerated this trend. Since the beginning of the war, Russia has banned Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube. According to a report from Human Rights Watch, Russia has also blocked thousands of websites including those operated by independent media outlets, human rights organizations, and political opposition entities and individuals.
Most recently, Russia’s state communications agency Roskomnadzor restricted calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, two of the most popular messaging apps in Russia. According to Mediascope, Telegram and WhatsApp have around 89 million and 96 million users respectively in the country.
While authorities billed the move as an “anti-fraud measure” to protect citizens, it appears to be an attempt to increase monitoring of Russians. WhatsApp and Telegram have end-to-end encryption, theoretically meaning that no third party, including the Russian government, can access messages or listen to calls. Officials in Russia maintain this violates Russian law because the apps will not store users’ data in the country.
Concurrently, the government is attempting to push users to replace these platforms with Russia’s new super-app, dubbed “Max,” launched by VKontakte, a Russian media company that is influenced by the state. The app, which is now required to be pre-installed on all phones in Russia, contains extensive tracking capabilities for surveillance, including real-time location data. The new app project has been compared to China’s WeChat, one of the world’s largest social media platforms that has many different functions to go along with broad concerns about privacy.
Russian restrictions extend much further than targeting individual platforms and sites. For four months now, every Russian region has experienced mobile Internet blackouts, the BBC reports. Authorities claim these cutoffs are precautionary measures to minimize the potential damage done by Ukrainian drone attacks. But such claims remain debatable, as many drone systems do not rely on mobile networks, and instead operate using satellite communication, autonomous navigation, other radio frequencies, or even fiber optics.
The mobile network shutdowns can last for a few hours to several days, but some districts in Nizhny Novgorod have gone without mobile Internet access for over two months. Despite the supposedly preemptive rationale for the measure, the city has endured continued drone attacks. GPS signals are not jammed, according to locals who worry that the shutdowns are more of an attempt at censorship than a public safety initiative.
While the shutdowns have occurred on a regional basis, Russia is preparing to centralize this ability through a single state body that would manage mobile network blackouts.
The Internet shutdowns and call restrictions have had tangible consequences. The Russian Internet Protection society estimates that a single day of nationwide Internet shutdowns can cause losses up to hundreds of millions of dollars, disrupting commercial banking, businesses, and everyday services.
Beyond inconvenience, it can be life-threatening. In the Volga region in July, a drone attack killed three people after the factory’s alarm failed to alert workers due to an Internet blackout.
WhatsApp and Telegram call bans have also frustrated Russian citizens who could not contact friends and family or conduct business over the messenger platforms. One resident of Bashkortostan wrote on social media. “This is torture, we are like blind. We can’t do anything, we can’t contact our relatives, teachers, or doctors. Don't we have the right to communicate?”
Popular frustration reached the point in September where multiple Russian cities saw the first government-tolerated protests in years, during which citizens voiced opposition to the restrictions. While the protests were relatively small, it is not a stretch to believe many more Russians share the same sentiments.
As Russia fine-tunes its snooping and censoring techniques, a dark cloud looms ahead for other Eurasian countries with authoritarian-minded governments that may be tempted to enact similar restrictions. At home, Internet blackouts and blocked calls disrupt daily life, how families and friends communicate, how people order taxis, shop or simply get through the day. If they continue to expand, these digital restrictions may turn out to be the wartime burden ordinary Russians increasingly refuse to bear.
Katherine Spencer is a program assistant at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, she interned at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focused on domestic developments in Russia and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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