Why did a whole batch of sites suddenly stop loading for me in Russia?

Most likely because since June 2025 Russian ISPs have been systematically throttling Cloudflare — any Cloudflare-protected site gets its traffic choked to about 16KB per asset, so pages load a little then freeze. And Cloudflare backs roughly 40% of the Runet, around 300,000 sites (including Twitch, Spotify, OpenAI, Amazon), so it feels like "everything is broken." It's not your device or network. To check: switch ISP (e.g. mobile data) or have a friend abroad open the same site — if they're fine and yours loads a little then freezes, it's throttling.

Why is Russia targeting Cloudflare?

The trigger was TLS ECH. In October 2024 Cloudflare enabled ECH by default, which also encrypts "which site you're visiting," so censorship gear can no longer read the target domain from the SNI — effectively letting many sites bypass blocks without a VPN. About a month later RKN began blocking ECH-enabled sites, and by June 2025 escalated to throttling the whole Cloudflare network. Officials never call it a block, only a "foreign-infrastructure failure." A side goal is forcing Russian companies to migrate to domestic, state-controlled hosting.

I self-hosted a VPN on Hetzner — why did it slow down too?

Because this throttling doesn't only target Cloudflare — it also went after Hetzner and DigitalOcean, exactly the hosting providers most Russians use to self-host private VPNs. RKN gets two-for-one: choke the circumvention infrastructure and push companies to domestic hosting. So "just rent a cheap VPS and run a VPN" is no longer reliable in today's Russia. What actually restores access hinges on two things: a node not on a throttled range, and a connection disguised as ordinary HTTPS (not an obviously-recognizable circumvention protocol) — which is exactly what VLESS+Reality plus a well-maintained node does.

Why can VLESS+Reality get around this Cloudflare throttle?

Two reasons. First, Reality disguises your connection to the node as an ordinary HTTPS handshake to a real large website, so it doesn't fall into the "Cloudflare / ECH traffic" class the ISP is throttling, and isn't hit by that 16KB logic. Second, a well-maintained node deliberately avoids the Hetzner/DigitalOcean/Cloudflare ranges currently throttled. Once the tunnel is up, you reach those Cloudflare sites from an exit abroad, and the 16KB throttle only happens on the "inside-Russia → Cloudflare" leg, so an exit abroad isn't affected. No absolute guarantee, but usually far steadier than a public-protocol VPN self-hosted on a throttled range.

Cloudflare Throttled in Russia: Why Many Sites Suddenly Won't Load, Why It's Not Your Network, and How to Restore Access (RKN Chokes Cloudflare Traffic to 16KB · a VLESS+Reality Client)

Updated 2026-07-05

Diagram: since June 2025 Russian ISPs choke traffic to Cloudflare down to about 16KB per asset, making the ~40% of the Runet — around 300,000 sites — that use Cloudflare nearly unreachable in Russia (Twitch, Spotify, OpenAI, Amazon, Faceit); RKN denies it's a block and calls it a "foreign-infrastructure failure"; the trigger was Cloudflare enabling TLS ECH by default in October 2024 (bypassing censorship without a VPN); crucial honest point: a plain VPN self-hosted on Hetzner/DigitalOcean gets throttled too, so what actually restores access is VLESS+Reality disguised as HTTPS to a big site with nodes not on the throttled ranges

First, to be clear: sites failing to load isn't your fault — Russia is choking Cloudflare

If a large batch of normally-fine sites in Russia suddenly won't open, or load a bit and then freeze in place, don't rush to reinstall your OS or switch browsers — it's most likely not your device or network. Since June 2025, Russian ISPs have been systematically targeting Cloudflare: any site protected by Cloudflare gets its access deliberately cut off or heavily throttled. The problem is that Cloudflare backs roughly 40% of the entire Runet, around 300,000 sites — including Twitch, Spotify, OpenAI, Amazon, Faceit and a long list of everyday services — so it feels like "why is everything suddenly broken." And RKN officially never admits this is a block, calling it only a "foreign-infrastructure failure." This guide explains honestly: what's actually going on, why a plain VPN may not save you, and what genuinely restores access.

Why Cloudflare specifically: retaliation over ECH (an encryption that let you bypass censorship without a VPN)

Many people are puzzled: why target Cloudflare of all things? The trigger was a technology called TLS ECH (Encrypted Client Hello). In October 2024, Cloudflare enabled ECH by default across its network — ECH also encrypts "which site you're visiting," so censorship gear can no longer read from the SNI which domain you're connecting to, effectively letting many sites bypass blocks without a VPN. To RKN that was unacceptable: about a month later it began blocking ECH-enabled sites, and by June 2025 it escalated to throttling the entire Cloudflare network. In other words, the "sites won't load" you're hitting today is collateral from a head-on clash between Russia's censorship apparatus and a privacy-encryption standard.

What the symptom looks like: a page loads 16KB and freezes

The throttling is very recognizable: each web asset is allowed to load only its first ~16KB, then the connection is killed — so you often see a page's skeleton flash for a moment while images and content spin forever. This method hits every protocol: whether HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 over TCP or HTTP/3 over QUIC, the ISP injects forged reset packets to break the connection, or simply drops packets so it times out. Because 16KB is usually just enough to load the start of a page, most sites become "can start loading, but never finish" — more confusing than an outright block, because it looks like the site itself is broken rather than someone choking you in the middle.

The crucial honest part: a plain VPN may not help either — Hetzner and DigitalOcean are throttled the same way

Here's the crucial honest part, or you may waste money: it isn't "just grab any VPN." This throttling doesn't only target Cloudflare — it also went after Hetzner and DigitalOcean, which are exactly the hosting providers most Russians use to rent a server and self-host a private VPN. That's no coincidence: RKN's goal is two-for-one — choke off the infrastructure used to bypass censorship, and push companies to migrate to Russian, state-controlled hosting. The result: if you self-hosted a plain VPN on Hetzner or DigitalOcean, it's quite likely throttled too — it connects but is just as unusably slow. So "just run any VPN" is a half-truth in today's Russia — whether you can restore access depends on what infrastructure your node sits on and whether the connection looks like circumvention.

What actually works: VLESS+Reality on infrastructure that isn't throttled

What reliably restores access is a solution that satisfies two conditions at once, and VLESS + Reality is designed exactly for this. First, connection disguise: Reality disguises your connection to the node as an ordinary HTTPS handshake to a real, large website, so it doesn't fall into the "Cloudflare / ECH traffic" class the ISP is identifying, and isn't hit by that 16KB throttling logic. Second, clean infrastructure: a maintained node deliberately avoids the Hetzner / DigitalOcean / Cloudflare ranges currently being throttled, choosing a landing point that still passes cleanly — precisely what "just rent any VPS yourself" struggles to keep doing but a managed setup can do proactively. Once the tunnel is up, you're reaching those Cloudflare sites from an exit outside Russia; and this 16KB throttle only happens on the "inside-Russia → Cloudflare" leg, so with the exit abroad it doesn't apply, and the sites return to normal speed.

Hands-on: how to restore access to sites behind Cloudflare

First confirm it really is Cloudflare throttling and not the site itself being down: switch to mobile data (a different ISP), or have a friend abroad open the same site — if they're fine and yours loads a little then freezes, it's throttling.
Don't count on "self-hosting a cheap VPS as a VPN on Hetzner/DigitalOcean" — those ranges are being throttled too, so it may be just as slow; this time you need a node that actively avoids the throttled infrastructure.
Install a system-level client that supports VLESS+Reality: on mobile v2rayNG (Android) / Streisand (iOS); on desktop sing-box / Hiddify / nekoray.
Import a VLESS+Reality subscription disguised as HTTPS to a big site with nodes not on the throttled ranges — those two points are the key, not the protocol name itself.
Turn on system-level / TUN global mode so the whole machine (browser, apps, game clients) goes through the tunnel; that's how Cloudflare-affected services like Twitch, Faceit, and Steam get through, not just one browser tab.
Put Russian local sites (online banking, Gosuslugi, local services) into a direct-routing rule — they aren't affected by this throttle anyway, are faster direct, and avoid a foreign IP tripping fraud controls.

FAQ and honest limits

Is my network / router broken? Almost certainly not. If the same site is fine on a different ISP (like mobile data) and the ones freezing are all Cloudflare sites, it's throttling, not your device.
Does RKN admit it blocked Cloudflare? No. The official line is "foreign-infrastructure failure," pinning it on Cloudflare; but technical analysis shows Russian domestic ISPs actively injecting reset packets and choking traffic to 16KB.
Why did my cheap self-hosted VPN slow down too? Because Hetzner and DigitalOcean, the common self-hosted-VPN providers, are throttled as well. The key isn't "do you have a VPN" but "is the node on a throttled range, and does the connection look like ordinary HTTPS."
Is VLESS+Reality guaranteed un-throttled? No "guarantee." But because it disguises as ordinary HTTPS to a big site and deliberately avoids throttled ranges, it typically resists this throttle better than a public-protocol VPN self-hosted on Hetzner/DO.
What about during a nationwide shutdown? If Russia fully cuts international egress, then any channel out of the country goes down together; that's a physical-layer outage no tool switch can solve.

FAQ

Why did a whole batch of sites suddenly stop loading for me in Russia?: Most likely because since June 2025 Russian ISPs have been systematically throttling Cloudflare — any Cloudflare-protected site gets its traffic choked to about 16KB per asset, so pages load a little then freeze. And Cloudflare backs roughly 40% of the Runet, around 300,000 sites (including Twitch, Spotify, OpenAI, Amazon), so it feels like "everything is broken." It's not your device or network. To check: switch ISP (e.g. mobile data) or have a friend abroad open the same site — if they're fine and yours loads a little then freezes, it's throttling.
Why is Russia targeting Cloudflare?: The trigger was TLS ECH. In October 2024 Cloudflare enabled ECH by default, which also encrypts "which site you're visiting," so censorship gear can no longer read the target domain from the SNI — effectively letting many sites bypass blocks without a VPN. About a month later RKN began blocking ECH-enabled sites, and by June 2025 escalated to throttling the whole Cloudflare network. Officials never call it a block, only a "foreign-infrastructure failure." A side goal is forcing Russian companies to migrate to domestic, state-controlled hosting.
I self-hosted a VPN on Hetzner — why did it slow down too?: Because this throttling doesn't only target Cloudflare — it also went after Hetzner and DigitalOcean, exactly the hosting providers most Russians use to self-host private VPNs. RKN gets two-for-one: choke the circumvention infrastructure and push companies to domestic hosting. So "just rent a cheap VPS and run a VPN" is no longer reliable in today's Russia. What actually restores access hinges on two things: a node not on a throttled range, and a connection disguised as ordinary HTTPS (not an obviously-recognizable circumvention protocol) — which is exactly what VLESS+Reality plus a well-maintained node does.
Why can VLESS+Reality get around this Cloudflare throttle?: Two reasons. First, Reality disguises your connection to the node as an ordinary HTTPS handshake to a real large website, so it doesn't fall into the "Cloudflare / ECH traffic" class the ISP is throttling, and isn't hit by that 16KB logic. Second, a well-maintained node deliberately avoids the Hetzner/DigitalOcean/Cloudflare ranges currently throttled. Once the tunnel is up, you reach those Cloudflare sites from an exit abroad, and the 16KB throttle only happens on the "inside-Russia → Cloudflare" leg, so an exit abroad isn't affected. No absolute guarantee, but usually far steadier than a public-protocol VPN self-hosted on a throttled range.

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