Another 450 Russian Websites Banned: How the “Clear Sky” Initiative Fights Piracy
The “Clear Sky” Initiative (CSI) shares its key achievements in 2025. Below is information on the protection of intellectual property rights, the fight against Russian propaganda, and domestic violators.
Blocking Media Services of the Aggressor State
The majority of low-quality media services and pirate resources available in Ukraine are Russian. These sites not only infringe on the rights of copyright holders but also spread hostile propaganda and illegal content. Additionally, they may pose a threat to users’ personal data.
Thanks to appeals from CSI, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine banned 17 Russian media services in 2025. Among them were 14 streaming websites and online television services broadcasting Russian TV channels, and three large networks of pirate movie websites (KINOBAR, TARTUGI, and UZOR). In total, 49 media services from the aggressor state have already been blocked in Ukraine — more than 80% of them thanks to CSI's efforts.
In total, 456 pro-Russian and pirate websites were banned in 2025. Among them were 324 mirror sites of previously blocked resources, 127 new pages, and 15 online TV websites broadcasting Russian channels.
Monitoring the Blocking
Banning pirate resources by the National Council is important, but it's ineffective without proper implementation by internet providers. Therefore, CSI monitors the enforcement of these decisions and, in case of violations, appeals to the regulator. It is important that provider inspections are conducted unscheduled. In 2025, 15 such inspections have already taken place.
“No” to Advertising on Pirate Sites
Another important aspect of CSI's work is cutting off pirate sites from advertising revenue. To do this, such sites are added to the National List of Websites of Concern Regarding Intellectual Property Rights, which is part of the international WIPO ALERT database, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
This year, at the initiative of “1+1 Studio,” the following sites were added to the list: hdrezka.info, kinogo.pro, kinozapas.io, tvbox-baraholka.ru, seasonvar.gg, kinokrad.ac, hdrezka.page, kinogo.bingo, bobfilm.in, bobfilm.org, kinokong.day, kin.tartugi.info, baskino.fm, zona.li. Soon, new sites belonging to popular pirate movie groups will be added to the National List. This will help advertisers avoid working with resources that distribute content illegally. Notably, some of the sites ceased operation after being blacklisted.
Holding Pirates Accountable
In August 2025, the Zboriv District Court issued a guilty verdict to a man who sold media boxes with access to Ukrainian TV channels without signing a licensing agreement with the copyright holders. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, with a 1-year probation period. This verdict demonstrates the inevitability of punishment for copyright infringement.
Currently, CSI, in cooperation with law enforcement and the Smartsolutions legal team, is overseeing more than 40 criminal proceedings initiated against content thieves in various regions of Ukraine.
“Blocking pro-Russian and pirate resources is a continuous and important process that means not only protecting the rights of content producers in Ukraine, but also supporting national information security. It is especially unfortunate when such violations are committed by our own citizens. CSI works with regulators and law enforcement to promote a culture of legal content consumption in Ukraine and to prevent the spread of hostile narratives through pirate websites”, — says Vyacheslav Mienko, Head of the Anti-Piracy “Clear Sky” Initiative, Deputy General Counsel of 1+1 Media.
