Russia asked the UN for a treaty against ‘extremism,’ ‘subversion,’ and ‘discrediting the authorities.’ Instead, it got one that covers hacking and fraud.

By the end of 2026, a major new international treaty will be submitted to the State Duma for ratification: the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime. Russia does not agree with every provision in the document — even though Russia was the one that initiated it. So the convention will be ratified with reservations. How substantial those reservations will be, we don’t yet know.