Since February 2022, 44 Russian Government Agencies have Stopped Publishing Nearly 500 Data Sets They had Offered

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 29 – Since Vladimir Putin began his expanded invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a minimum of 44 Russian government agencies have stopped publishing nearly 500 data sets they had offered in the past, putting a serious crimp on the work of business, government, and analysts, the To Be Precise portal says.

            For the first year of the war, this closing off of information had no legal sanction; but in February 2023, the Duma passed a law allowing government bodies to stop publishing data at their discretion (tochno.st/materials/za-poslednie-dva-goda-44-organa-vlasti-udalili-so-svoix-saitov-pocti-500-datasetov-itogovoe-obnovlenie-trekera-otkrytyx-dannyx-ot-esli-byt-tocnym).

            That action accelerated the shutdown, To Be Precise says, with data sets of various kinds of economic and financial matters, the losses of the Russian army in the Ukrainian war, crime figures, energy consumption, incomes and property of senior officials, and migration that had been accessible and updated regularly no longer available.

            More than that, the portal continues, some Russian government agencies have taken down information that they had earlier released and made all materials inaccessible to those attempting to access them from foreign IP addressed inaccessible. A list of all these losses can be found at admin.tochno.st/static/files/static/tracker-2023_2023-12-29_11-15-39.xlsx).