Estonia blocks .ru emails in government institutions

Estonia will block all emails sent from .ru domain addresses to government institutions starting August 31, 2026. Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta announced the measure, citing a constant increase in cyber threats originating from Russian servers since 2022. Incoming messages from addresses like @mail.ru or @yandex.ru will be placed in quarantine for additional verification. Pakosta stated Estonia cannot allow sensitive data exchanged with residents to pass through servers controlled by an aggressor state, and urged users of Russian email services to switch to alternatives not subject to Russian data protection rules.