A ban on anonymous communications via mobile messengers will be introduced in Russia, as the Russian Prosecutor General Yurii Chaika stated.

      The ban will become effective on January 1, 2018, as the Prosecutor General added. “Instant messaging services will be provided exclusively to the users identified on the basis of the subscriber number and the relevant agreement” - he explained. In addition, amendments providing for criminal punishment for unlawful access to control systems of the nuclear and chemical industry, energy industry, defense and industrial complex, as well as other spheres of strategic importance, will also enter into force.