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Group of Seven leaders are set to reach a political agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion of aid using the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets, according to an Elysee official.

However, the technical details of a deal will need to be finalized after a G-7 leaders’ summit taking place in Italy this week — meaning that it could be a while for a final agreement to be concluded, said the French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The French view followed comments by the US on Tuesday that leaders had all but reached a political deal. People familiar with the negotiations in both countries said the aim would be to disburse the funds by the end of the year.

G-7 participants cautioned that beyond any agreement — which is expected to be one of the main deliverables of the summit — some remaining issues on how it will work are complicated.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have for months been discussing how to use the profits generated by the about $280 billion in frozen Russian central bank funds, most of which lies immobilized in Europe.

The proceeds from the frozen assets are estimated to be worth between €3 billion to €5 billion annually. The EU has already agreed to provide Ukraine the profits twice a year, but the US has been urging G-7 allies to find ways to frontload the support in order to provide Kyiv with more immediate support.

Complex issues that will need to be ironed out include figuring out how to structure any loans to Ukraine, how risks are shared among allies and ensuring that the assets remain frozen for years.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters during a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that discussions were continuing and making good progress.

“What we are working toward is a framework that is not generic — that is quite specific, in terms of what it would entail,” he said. “But of course, the core operational details of anything that is agreed in Italy will then have to be worked through and the leaders would give direction to the experts to work that through on a defined time frame,” Sullivan added.

Group of Seven leaders are set to reach a political agreement to provide Ukraine with $50 billion of aid using the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets, according to an Elysee official.

However, the technical details of a deal will need to be finalized after a G-7 leaders’ summit taking place in Italy this week — meaning that it could be a while for a final agreement to be concluded, said the French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The French view followed comments by the US on Tuesday that leaders had all but reached a political deal. People familiar with the negotiations in both countries said the aim would be to disburse the funds by the end of the year.

G-7 participants cautioned that beyond any agreement — which is expected to be one of the main deliverables of the summit — some remaining issues on how it will work are complicated.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have for months been discussing how to use the profits generated by the about $280 billion in frozen Russian central bank funds, most of which lies immobilized in Europe.

The proceeds from the frozen assets are estimated to be worth between €3 billion to €5 billion annually. The EU has already agreed to provide Ukraine the profits twice a year, but the US has been urging G-7 allies to find ways to frontload the support in order to provide Kyiv with more immediate support.

Complex issues that will need to be ironed out include figuring out how to structure any loans to Ukraine, how risks are shared among allies and ensuring that the assets remain frozen for years.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters during a gaggle aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that discussions were continuing and making good progress.

“What we are working toward is a framework that is not generic — that is quite specific, in terms of what it would entail,” he said. “But of course, the core operational details of anything that is agreed in Italy will then have to be worked through and the leaders would give direction to the experts to work that through on a defined time frame,” Sullivan added.

[Edit typo.]

- Hackers working for the Chinese government gained access to more than 20,000 VPN appliances sold by Fortinet using a critical vulnerability that the company failed to disclose for two weeks after fixing it, Netherlands government officials said.

- The Netherlands officials first reported in February that Chinese state hackers had exploited CVE-2022-42475 to install an advanced and stealthy backdoor tracked as CoatHanger on Fortigate appliances inside the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

- Chinese state hackers have used the critical vulnerability to infect more than 20,000 FortiGate VPN appliances sold by Fortinet. Targets include dozens of Western government agencies, international organizations, and companies within the defense industry.--

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-42475, is a heap-based buffer overflow that allows hackers to remotely execute malicious code. It carries a severity rating of 9.8 out of 10. A maker of network security software, Fortinet silently fixed the vulnerability on November 28, 2022, but failed to mention the threat until December 12 of that year, when the company said it became aware of an “instance where this vulnerability was exploited in the wild.” On January 11, 2023—more than six weeks after the vulnerability was fixed—Fortinet warned a threat actor was exploiting it to infect government and government-related organizations with advanced custom-made malware.

Enter CoatHanger

The Netherlands officials first reported in February that Chinese state hackers had exploited CVE-2022-42475 to install an advanced and stealthy backdoor tracked as CoatHanger on Fortigate appliances inside the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Once installed, the never-before-seen malware, specifically designed for the underlying FortiOS operating system, was able to permanently reside on devices even when rebooted or receiving a firmware update. CoatHanger could also escape traditional detection measures, the officials warned. The damage resulting from the breach was limited, however, because infections were contained inside a segment reserved for non-classified uses.

On Monday, officials with the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) and the General Intelligence and Security Service in the Netherlands said that to date, Chinese state hackers have used the critical vulnerability to infect more than 20,000 FortiGate VPN appliances sold by Fortinet. Targets include dozens of Western government agencies, international organizations, and companies within the defense industry.

"Since then, the MIVD has conducted further investigation and has shown that the Chinese cyber espionage campaign appears to be much more extensive than previously known,” Netherlands officials with the National Cyber Security Center wrote. “The NCSC therefore calls for extra attention to this campaign and the abuse of vulnerabilities in edge devices.”

Monday’s report said that exploitation of the vulnerability started two months before Fortinet first disclosed it and that 14,000 servers were backdoored during this zero-day period. The officials warned that the Chinese threat group likely still has access to many victims because CoatHanger is so hard to detect and remove.

Netherlands government officials wrote in Monday’s report:

Since the publication in February, the MIVD has continued to investigate the broader Chinese cyber espionage campaign. This revealed that the state actor gained access to at least 20,000 FortiGate systems worldwide within a few months in both 2022 and 2023 through the vulnerability with the identifier CVE-2022-42475 . Furthermore, research shows that the state actor behind this campaign was already aware of this vulnerability in FortiGate systems at least two months before Fortinet announced the vulnerability. During this so-called 'zero-day' period, the actor alone infected 14,000 devices. Targets include dozens of (Western) governments, international organizations and a large number of companies within the defense industry.

The state actor installed malware at relevant targets at a later date. This gave the state actor permanent access to the systems. Even if a victim installs security updates from FortiGate, the state actor continues to have this access.

It is not known how many victims actually have malware installed. The Dutch intelligence services and the NCSC consider it likely that the state actor could potentially expand its access to hundreds of victims worldwide and carry out additional actions such as stealing data.

Even with the technical report on the COATHANGER malware, infections from the actor are difficult to identify and remove. The NCSC and the Dutch intelligence services therefore state that it is likely that the state actor still has access to systems of a significant number of victims.

Fortinet’s failure to timely disclose is particularly acute given the severity of the vulnerability. Disclosures are crucial because they help users prioritize the installation of patches. When a new version fixes minor bugs, many organizations often wait to install it. When it fixes a vulnerability with a 9.8 severity rating, they’re much more likely to expedite the update process. Given the vulnerability was being exploited even before Fortinet fixed it, the disclosure likely wouldn't have prevented all of the infections, but it stands to reason it could have stopped some.

Fortinet officials have never explained why they didn’t disclose the critical vulnerability when it was fixed. They have also declined to disclose what the company policy is for the disclosure of security vulnerabilities. Company representatives didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment for this post.

Original article behind paywall

An inquiry by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12 highlighted that four children who were forcibly taken from Ukraine and transported to Russia during the outset of the conflict were potentially listed for adoption on a Russian government-associated website, usynovite.ru.

Official statements reveal that since the commencement of Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine, over 19,500 children have been kidnapped by Russian forces, with fewer than 400 managing to return home. This information is corroborated by the Ukrainian administration’s database.

Through utilizing facial recognition software, public data, and testimonies from families of the missing youths, the investigation by the FT managed to locate four Ukrainian kids on the adoption portal usynowite.ru. These children, ranging from ages eight to 15, were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Modifications were observed in the children’s identity presentations, with one of them having a reinvented Russian name and altered age, and another bearing a Russified variant of their original name. The listings did not disclose their Ukrainian origins.

The genuine identities of these children have been confirmed by the Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a state agency, as reported by the FT.

While the relatives of these children have opted not to make public statements out of concern that it may hinder opportunities for the children’s repatriation, the incidents of kidnapping and the operation of the adoption site have become items of concern.

Reports, including one from the Guardian dated Feb. 4, advise that Ukrainian minors forcibly moved to Russia are being subjected to deliberate indoctrination by Russian officials.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova given their alleged roles in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Original article behind paywall

An inquiry by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12 highlighted that four children who were forcibly taken from Ukraine and transported to Russia during the outset of the conflict were potentially listed for adoption on a Russian government-associated website, usynovite.ru.

Official statements reveal that since the commencement of Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine, over 19,500 children have been kidnapped by Russian forces, with fewer than 400 managing to return home. This information is corroborated by the Ukrainian administration’s database.

Through utilizing facial recognition software, public data, and testimonies from families of the missing youths, the investigation by the FT managed to locate four Ukrainian kids on the adoption portal usynowite.ru. These children, ranging from ages eight to 15, were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Modifications were observed in the children’s identity presentations, with one of them having a reinvented Russian name and altered age, and another bearing a Russified variant of their original name. The listings did not disclose their Ukrainian origins.

The genuine identities of these children have been confirmed by the Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a state agency, as reported by the FT.

While the relatives of these children have opted not to make public statements out of concern that it may hinder opportunities for the children’s repatriation, the incidents of kidnapping and the operation of the adoption site have become items of concern.

Reports, including one from the Guardian dated Feb. 4, advise that Ukrainian minors forcibly moved to Russia are being subjected to deliberate indoctrination by Russian officials.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova given their alleged roles in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Original article behind paywall

An inquiry by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12 highlighted that four children who were forcibly taken from Ukraine and transported to Russia during the outset of the conflict were potentially listed for adoption on a Russian government-associated website, usynovite.ru.

Official statements reveal that since the commencement of Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine, over 19,500 children have been kidnapped by Russian forces, with fewer than 400 managing to return home. This information is corroborated by the Ukrainian administration’s database.

Through utilizing facial recognition software, public data, and testimonies from families of the missing youths, the investigation by the FT managed to locate four Ukrainian kids on the adoption portal usynowite.ru. These children, ranging from ages eight to 15, were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Modifications were observed in the children’s identity presentations, with one of them having a reinvented Russian name and altered age, and another bearing a Russified variant of their original name. The listings did not disclose their Ukrainian origins.

The genuine identities of these children have been confirmed by the Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a state agency, as reported by the FT.

While the relatives of these children have opted not to make public statements out of concern that it may hinder opportunities for the children’s repatriation, the incidents of kidnapping and the operation of the adoption site have become items of concern.

Reports, including one from the Guardian dated Feb. 4, advise that Ukrainian minors forcibly moved to Russia are being subjected to deliberate indoctrination by Russian officials.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova given their alleged roles in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Original article behind paywall

An inquiry by the Financial Times (FT) on June 12 highlighted that four children who were forcibly taken from Ukraine and transported to Russia during the outset of the conflict were potentially listed for adoption on a Russian government-associated website, usynovite.ru.

Official statements reveal that since the commencement of Russia’s intensified aggression against Ukraine, over 19,500 children have been kidnapped by Russian forces, with fewer than 400 managing to return home. This information is corroborated by the Ukrainian administration’s database.

Through utilizing facial recognition software, public data, and testimonies from families of the missing youths, the investigation by the FT managed to locate four Ukrainian kids on the adoption portal usynowite.ru. These children, ranging from ages eight to 15, were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Modifications were observed in the children’s identity presentations, with one of them having a reinvented Russian name and altered age, and another bearing a Russified variant of their original name. The listings did not disclose their Ukrainian origins.

The genuine identities of these children have been confirmed by the Ukrainian Child Rights Protection (CPRC), a state agency, as reported by the FT.

While the relatives of these children have opted not to make public statements out of concern that it may hinder opportunities for the children’s repatriation, the incidents of kidnapping and the operation of the adoption site have become items of concern.

Reports, including one from the Guardian dated Feb. 4, advise that Ukrainian minors forcibly moved to Russia are being subjected to deliberate indoctrination by Russian officials.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated arrest warrants for Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova given their alleged roles in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territories.

Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser Firefox, said it received government demands to block add-ons that circumvent censorship.

The Mozilla Foundation, the entity behind the web browser Firefox, is blocking various censorship circumvention add-ons for its browser, including ones specifically to help those in Russia bypass state censorship. The add-ons were blocked at the request of Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor — the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media — according to a statement by Mozilla to The Intercept.

“Following recent regulatory changes in Russia, we received persistent requests from Roskomnadzor demanding that five add-ons be removed from the Mozilla add-on store,” a Mozilla spokesperson told The Intercept in response to a request for comment. “After careful consideration, we’ve temporarily restricted their availability within Russia. Recognizing the implications of these actions, we are closely evaluating our next steps while keeping in mind our local community.”

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information.”

Stanislav Shakirov, the chief technical officer of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian open internet group, said he hoped it was a rash decision by Mozilla that will be more carefully examined.

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information, and its policy was somewhat different,” Shakirov said. “And due to these values, it should not be so simple to comply with state censors and fulfill the requirements of laws that have little to do with common sense.”

Developers of digital tools designed to get around censorship began noticing recently that their Firefox add-ons were no longer available in Russia.

On June 8, the developer of Censor Tracker, an add-on for bypassing internet censorship restrictions in Russia and other former Soviet countries, made a post on the Mozilla Foundation’s discussion forums saying that their extension was unavailable to users in Russia.

The developer of another add-on, Runet Censorship Bypass, which is specifically designed to bypass Roskomnadzor censorship, posted in the thread that their extension was also blocked. The developer said they did not receive any notification from Mozilla regarding the block.

Two VPN add-ons, Planet VPN and FastProxy — the latter explicitly designed for Russian users to bypass Russian censorship — are also blocked. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are designed to obscure internet users’ locations by routing users’ traffic through servers in other countries.

The Intercept verified that all four add-ons are blocked in Russia. If the webpage for the add-on is accessed from a Russian IP address, the Mozilla add-on page displays a message: “The page you tried to access is not available in your region.” If the add-on is accessed with an IP address outside of Russia, the add-on page loads successfully.

Supervision of Communications

Roskomnadzor is responsible for “control and supervision in telecommunications, information technology, and mass communications,” according to the Russia’s federal censorship agency’s English-language page.

In March, the New York Times reported that Roskomnadzor was increasing its operations to restrict access to censorship circumvention technologies such as VPNs. In 2018, there were multiple user reports that Roskomnadzor had blocked access to the entire Firefox Add-on Store.

According to Mozilla’s Pledge for a Healthy Internet, the Mozilla Foundation is “committed to an internet that includes all the peoples of the earth — where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.” Mozilla’s second principle in their manifesto says, “The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.”

The Mozilla Foundation, which in tandem with its for-profit arm Mozilla Corporation releases Firefox, also operates its own VPN service, Mozilla VPN. However, it is only available in 33 countries, a list that doesn’t include Russia.

The same four censorship circumvention add-ons also appear to be available for other web browsers without being blocked by the browsers’ web stores. Censor Tracker, for instance, remains available for the Google Chrome web browser, and the Chrome Web Store page for the add-on works from Russian IP addresses. The same holds for Runet Censorship Bypass, VPN Planet, and FastProxy.

“In general, it’s hard to recall anyone else who has done something similar lately,” said Shakirov, the Russian open internet advocate. “For the last few months, Roskomnadzor (after the adoption of the law in Russia that prohibits the promotion of tools for bypassing blockings) has been sending such complaints about content to everyone.”

Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser Firefox, said it received government demands to block add-ons that circumvent censorship.

The Mozilla Foundation, the entity behind the web browser Firefox, is blocking various censorship circumvention add-ons for its browser, including ones specifically to help those in Russia bypass state censorship. The add-ons were blocked at the request of Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor — the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media — according to a statement by Mozilla to The Intercept.

“Following recent regulatory changes in Russia, we received persistent requests from Roskomnadzor demanding that five add-ons be removed from the Mozilla add-on store,” a Mozilla spokesperson told The Intercept in response to a request for comment. “After careful consideration, we’ve temporarily restricted their availability within Russia. Recognizing the implications of these actions, we are closely evaluating our next steps while keeping in mind our local community.”

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information.”

Stanislav Shakirov, the chief technical officer of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian open internet group, said he hoped it was a rash decision by Mozilla that will be more carefully examined.

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information, and its policy was somewhat different,” Shakirov said. “And due to these values, it should not be so simple to comply with state censors and fulfill the requirements of laws that have little to do with common sense.”

Developers of digital tools designed to get around censorship began noticing recently that their Firefox add-ons were no longer available in Russia.

On June 8, the developer of Censor Tracker, an add-on for bypassing internet censorship restrictions in Russia and other former Soviet countries, made a post on the Mozilla Foundation’s discussion forums saying that their extension was unavailable to users in Russia.

The developer of another add-on, Runet Censorship Bypass, which is specifically designed to bypass Roskomnadzor censorship, posted in the thread that their extension was also blocked. The developer said they did not receive any notification from Mozilla regarding the block.

Two VPN add-ons, Planet VPN and FastProxy — the latter explicitly designed for Russian users to bypass Russian censorship — are also blocked. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are designed to obscure internet users’ locations by routing users’ traffic through servers in other countries.

The Intercept verified that all four add-ons are blocked in Russia. If the webpage for the add-on is accessed from a Russian IP address, the Mozilla add-on page displays a message: “The page you tried to access is not available in your region.” If the add-on is accessed with an IP address outside of Russia, the add-on page loads successfully.

Supervision of Communications

Roskomnadzor is responsible for “control and supervision in telecommunications, information technology, and mass communications,” according to the Russia’s federal censorship agency’s English-language page.

In March, the New York Times reported that Roskomnadzor was increasing its operations to restrict access to censorship circumvention technologies such as VPNs. In 2018, there were multiple user reports that Roskomnadzor had blocked access to the entire Firefox Add-on Store.

According to Mozilla’s Pledge for a Healthy Internet, the Mozilla Foundation is “committed to an internet that includes all the peoples of the earth — where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.” Mozilla’s second principle in their manifesto says, “The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.”

The Mozilla Foundation, which in tandem with its for-profit arm Mozilla Corporation releases Firefox, also operates its own VPN service, Mozilla VPN. However, it is only available in 33 countries, a list that doesn’t include Russia.

The same four censorship circumvention add-ons also appear to be available for other web browsers without being blocked by the browsers’ web stores. Censor Tracker, for instance, remains available for the Google Chrome web browser, and the Chrome Web Store page for the add-on works from Russian IP addresses. The same holds for Runet Censorship Bypass, VPN Planet, and FastProxy.

“In general, it’s hard to recall anyone else who has done something similar lately,” said Shakirov, the Russian open internet advocate. “For the last few months, Roskomnadzor (after the adoption of the law in Russia that prohibits the promotion of tools for bypassing blockings) has been sending such complaints about content to everyone.”

Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser Firefox, said it received government demands to block add-ons that circumvent censorship.

The Mozilla Foundation, the entity behind the web browser Firefox, is blocking various censorship circumvention add-ons for its browser, including ones specifically to help those in Russia bypass state censorship. The add-ons were blocked at the request of Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor — the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media — according to a statement by Mozilla to The Intercept.

“Following recent regulatory changes in Russia, we received persistent requests from Roskomnadzor demanding that five add-ons be removed from the Mozilla add-on store,” a Mozilla spokesperson told The Intercept in response to a request for comment. “After careful consideration, we’ve temporarily restricted their availability within Russia. Recognizing the implications of these actions, we are closely evaluating our next steps while keeping in mind our local community.”

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information.”

Stanislav Shakirov, the chief technical officer of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian open internet group, said he hoped it was a rash decision by Mozilla that will be more carefully examined.

“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information, and its policy was somewhat different,” Shakirov said. “And due to these values, it should not be so simple to comply with state censors and fulfill the requirements of laws that have little to do with common sense.”

Developers of digital tools designed to get around censorship began noticing recently that their Firefox add-ons were no longer available in Russia.

On June 8, the developer of Censor Tracker, an add-on for bypassing internet censorship restrictions in Russia and other former Soviet countries, made a post on the Mozilla Foundation’s discussion forums saying that their extension was unavailable to users in Russia.

The developer of another add-on, Runet Censorship Bypass, which is specifically designed to bypass Roskomnadzor censorship, posted in the thread that their extension was also blocked. The developer said they did not receive any notification from Mozilla regarding the block.

Two VPN add-ons, Planet VPN and FastProxy — the latter explicitly designed for Russian users to bypass Russian censorship — are also blocked. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are designed to obscure internet users’ locations by routing users’ traffic through servers in other countries.

The Intercept verified that all four add-ons are blocked in Russia. If the webpage for the add-on is accessed from a Russian IP address, the Mozilla add-on page displays a message: “The page you tried to access is not available in your region.” If the add-on is accessed with an IP address outside of Russia, the add-on page loads successfully.

Supervision of Communications

Roskomnadzor is responsible for “control and supervision in telecommunications, information technology, and mass communications,” according to the Russia’s federal censorship agency’s English-language page.

In March, the New York Times reported that Roskomnadzor was increasing its operations to restrict access to censorship circumvention technologies such as VPNs. In 2018, there were multiple user reports that Roskomnadzor had blocked access to the entire Firefox Add-on Store.

According to Mozilla’s Pledge for a Healthy Internet, the Mozilla Foundation is “committed to an internet that includes all the peoples of the earth — where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.” Mozilla’s second principle in their manifesto says, “The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.”

The Mozilla Foundation, which in tandem with its for-profit arm Mozilla Corporation releases Firefox, also operates its own VPN service, Mozilla VPN. However, it is only available in 33 countries, a list that doesn’t include Russia.

The same four censorship circumvention add-ons also appear to be available for other web browsers without being blocked by the browsers’ web stores. Censor Tracker, for instance, remains available for the Google Chrome web browser, and the Chrome Web Store page for the add-on works from Russian IP addresses. The same holds for Runet Censorship Bypass, VPN Planet, and FastProxy.

“In general, it’s hard to recall anyone else who has done something similar lately,” said Shakirov, the Russian open internet advocate. “For the last few months, Roskomnadzor (after the adoption of the law in Russia that prohibits the promotion of tools for bypassing blockings) has been sending such complaints about content to everyone.”

Chinese solar panel manufacturers said they are seeking immediate government intervention to curb investment and industry collaboration to arrest a plunge in prices of solar cells and modules, as the industry faces overcapacity.

Financial incentives and a government push have helped China become the solar panel factory of the world, accounting for about 80% of global module capacity. Analysts expect Chinese manufacturers to add up to 600 gigawatts (GW) this year, enough to meet global demand through 2032.

However, with no end in sight for the plunge in prices, industry officials and analysts said intense competition was threatening to drive smaller producers into bankruptcy. Rapid capacity additions drove down prices of China's finished solar panels by 42% last year.

"Survive - that's the goal," Li Gang, chairman of Seraphim Energy Group said at the International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy conference on Tuesday.

Between June 2023 and February 2024, at least eight companies cancelled or suspended more than 59 GW of new production capacity, equivalent to 6.9% of China's total finished panel production capacity in 2023, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA).

"We need to join our forces together to avoid overinvestment," Gao Jifan, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar and honorary president of CPIA told the conference.

Gao sought government regulation of new investment in the sector to plug further losses, while SiNeng Electric's president Duan Yuhe asked the Chinese state planner to intervene.

Gongshan Zhu, chair of the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association, warned new companies against rushing into the sector, saying industry profits had plunged 70% due to overcapacity and falling prices, while exports were curbed by trade barriers imposed by the United States.

"If you're just a copycat, it will not be sustainable for you," Zhu said, adding that the situation has been exacerbated by local governments investing for the sake of boosting employment.

Industry executives speaking at the conference also called for an end to race-to-the-bottom price competition, and suggested bidding processes take into account levels of research and development, instead of just pricing.

Some company officials, such as Wuxi Suntech Power Chairman Fei Wu, said consolidation had already begun. The industry's prospects were expected to worsen this year and more small companies were likely to go out of business, he added.

Chinese solar panel manufacturers said they are seeking immediate government intervention to curb investment and industry collaboration to arrest a plunge in prices of solar cells and modules, as the industry faces overcapacity.

Financial incentives and a government push have helped China become the solar panel factory of the world, accounting for about 80% of global module capacity. Analysts expect Chinese manufacturers to add up to 600 gigawatts (GW) this year, enough to meet global demand through 2032.

However, with no end in sight for the plunge in prices, industry officials and analysts said intense competition was threatening to drive smaller producers into bankruptcy. Rapid capacity additions drove down prices of China's finished solar panels by 42% last year.

"Survive - that's the goal," Li Gang, chairman of Seraphim Energy Group said at the International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy conference on Tuesday.

Between June 2023 and February 2024, at least eight companies cancelled or suspended more than 59 GW of new production capacity, equivalent to 6.9% of China's total finished panel production capacity in 2023, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA).

"We need to join our forces together to avoid overinvestment," Gao Jifan, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar and honorary president of CPIA told the conference.

Gao sought government regulation of new investment in the sector to plug further losses, while SiNeng Electric's president Duan Yuhe asked the Chinese state planner to intervene.

Gongshan Zhu, chair of the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association, warned new companies against rushing into the sector, saying industry profits had plunged 70% due to overcapacity and falling prices, while exports were curbed by trade barriers imposed by the United States.

"If you're just a copycat, it will not be sustainable for you," Zhu said, adding that the situation has been exacerbated by local governments investing for the sake of boosting employment.

Industry executives speaking at the conference also called for an end to race-to-the-bottom price competition, and suggested bidding processes take into account levels of research and development, instead of just pricing.

Some company officials, such as Wuxi Suntech Power Chairman Fei Wu, said consolidation had already begun. The industry's prospects were expected to worsen this year and more small companies were likely to go out of business, he added.