Another US internet backbone provider is shutting down services in Russia

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A US firm that provides essential internet services is pulling out of Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine. It is the second major company of its kind to do so in less than a week, following a similar announcement from rival Cogent last Friday.

In a post on its website, Lumen said it was shutting down all of its business in Russia due to increased security risk.

We have not yet experienced network disruptions, but given the increasingly uncertain environment and the heightened risk of state action, we took this move to ensure the security of our and our customers' networks, as well as the ongoing integrity of the global Internet.

The firm downplayed the impact of this move, emphasizing that it has no consumer customers in Russia, and that the business services it provides there are extremely small.

This statement doesn't fully reflect the scope of the business. According to Kentik, the top international transit provider to Russia is Lumen, which also has customers that include the country's biggest telecoms firm, Rostelecom.

The loss of first Cogent and then Lumen will strain existing capabilities and likely disrupt internet services in Russia. Doug Madory told The Washington Post that this is going to add up. I think it would be noticeable.

It is the latest example of Russia's increasing isolation from Western internet services, a trend that includes Russia blocking or restricting access to social media platforms like Facebook, as well as US firms limiting services they offer in Russia. Amazon Web Services is blocking new Russian cloud computing accounts, as well as shutting down ad sales in the country.

Some experts argue that these measures are necessary in order to impose economic sanctions against Russia, but others argue that they will only make the country more isolated and will limit the ability of its citizens to access independent news.