On June 23, 2026, users in Russia reported massive failures in Twitch, Discord, and PUBG: Battlegrounds. Live streams stopped working, although the website and chat remained active. Some accessed via mobile, but not from fixed connections. For citizens, this affects entertainment and online communication. Twitch assured that its services operate normally, but selective blocks continue to limit access to popular platforms in the country.
Technical block: servers down or selective filtering 🛑
Reports indicate that the problem did not affect everyone equally. While mobile connections worked, fixed lines from providers like Rostelecom and MTS showed failures in Twitch streaming and loading Discord voice channels. In PUBG, players could not connect to matches. This suggests an ISP-level block, possibly via DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) that filters specific traffic from these platforms. It is not a total blackout, but a selective restriction that disrupts key services without completely disabling access.
The great streaming blackout: how to survive without Twitch 😅
So, if you lived in Russia and wanted to watch your favorite streamer, you had to read a book or stare at the wall. Twitch said everything was fine, but Russian users know that is like asking the wolf if he ate grandma. The funny thing is that the chat did work, so at least you could complain with other affected users. Meanwhile, in PUBG, players discovered that the real battle royale was trying to connect to the server.