๐ดโโ ๏ธ Demand for Foreign Releases Pushes Pirate Revenues Back into the Red
Revenue for illegal online cinemas in the Russian segment of the internet has shown positive dynamics for the first time in a long while. According to a study by F6 for the first half of 2026, shadow revenues for pirate platforms rose by 4.2%, reaching $17.3 million.
A key driver of this growth was an influx of users: traffic to pirate portals increased by 5.7% while the average cost per thousand ad impressions (CPM) remained stable. F6 analysts attribute this surge to sustained high demand for foreign movies and TV series that remain unavailable on licensed Russian streaming platforms.
At the same time, the speed at which theatrical releases leak online has decreased. In the first half of 2026, 38% of the 255 verified theatrical releases were discovered in pirate databases. By comparison, that figure stood at 52% and 48% in the same periods of 2025 and 2024, respectively. Foreign titles remain less protected than domestic ones: roughly 57% of international premieres ended up illegally accessible, compared to just 10% of Russian titles. Overall, under the “Already Online” project (jointly run with BK Media), experts have tracked 1,583 films since October 2023, with about 46% landing in the public domain.
Despite aggressive blocking efforts, the pirated infrastructure continues to show high adaptability. Site owners swiftly migrate to new domains and spin up mirror sites. Around 90% of the illicit market continues to be sustained by the ongoing evolution of CDN video balancer networks.
Additionally, analysts noted a growing trend of piracy sites impersonating legitimate platforms. In April, F6 specialists recorded a massive wave of fake websites incorporating the names of major online cinemas directly into their domain names. By June, fraudsters had begun copying the visual identity of a popular social network, masquerading as the infrastructure of a major domestic video hosting service.
Source: F6
