Russian online piracy revenue up 4.2% in H1 2026
Online piracy in Russia saw a 4.2% increase in revenue during the first half of 2026, reaching $17.3 million, driven by demand for foreign films and series not available on legal streaming platforms, despite increased enforcement and higher traffic on legal services.
Consensus
- Online piracy revenue in Russia increased by 4.2% in the first half of 2026.
- Revenue from pirated video services reached $17.3 million in the first half of 2026.
- Traffic to pirated websites increased by 5.7% year-on-year.
- Legal streaming platforms saw a 19.6% increase in visits.
- The cost of advertising on pirated sites remained nearly unchanged.
- Pirated content continues to be accessible despite domain blocks, with new domains and mirrors created.
- Foreign films and series are more frequently found in pirated access than Russian content.
Points of divergence
- The growth in piracy revenue may be linked to 'pirate movie screenings' that open after 18:00 and on weekends to bypass regulatory checks during work hours. — vedomosti
- The share of film premieres appearing in pirated databases decreased to 38% in the first half of 2025, down from over 52% in the same period of 2024. — kommersant
- In 2025, piracy revenue was $34.4 million, a 5.5% decrease from the previous year, attributed to large-scale blocking and reduced search traffic. — vedomosti
- The growth in piracy revenue is the first since 2019. — kommersant
Coverage (2 sources)
- Income of online pirates in Russia increased by 4.2% — Ведомости
- Revenue of pirate video services increased for the first time since 2019 — Коммерсантъ