Putin Wants to Turn Russia into North Korea — CPD Reveals What Restrictions Await Russians

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on 10 August that internet restrictions in Russia over the next few years will fully copy the North Korean model of network control. According to him, the Kremlin regime is borrowing Pyongyang’s authoritarian practices not only in communications but also in preparing for a new war. Kovalenko links these processes to a broader Kremlin strategy oriented toward the experience of North Korea.

In his Telegram channel, Kovalenko explained the mutual interest the two dictatorships have in each other. He said the Center for Countering Disinformation notes that Pyongyang is gaining combat experience in Russia’s war against Ukraine precisely in order to later apply it in its own aggression on the Korean Peninsula.

"In particular, the internet restrictions that await Russians within a two-year perspective will completely replicate the system that operates in the DPRK. Russians just don’t realize it yet," Andriy Kovalenko wrote.

Kovalenko noted that Kim Jong Un may see the current confrontation between the US and Iran, as well as the depletion of ammunition that helps maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region, as a kind of window of opportunity. In his view, Japan and South Korea will have to take on greater responsibility for their own security in the region.

The Kremlin has prepared the ground for tightening censorship

The head of the CPD drew a direct parallel between the leader of North Korea and the president of Russia, calling both authoritarian rulers with similar methods of governance. According to Kovalenko, it is from Kim Jong Un that Putin is adopting approaches to controlling the information space inside the country.

This concerns the gradual formation of a closed network accessible only to state-vetted and approved resources. Such a model has operated for years in North Korea, where the population is practically deprived of access to the global internet.

Russia is already testing communication shutdowns in the regions

Earlier, Informator reported that Putin publicly commented on internet shutdowns in the Russian Federation for the first time, explaining regular communication restrictions in Russian regions on security grounds. At that time, the Kremlin officially acknowledged the scale and systematic nature of such blockings for the first time. We also reported that internet was cut off in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and residents could access only a limited list of “white” sites. These incidents demonstrate that the Russian authorities are already working out elements of a future system of total network control.