The Eurasia Network Operators Group (ENOG) has effectively been disbanded after its leadership quit following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Founded by regional Internet registry RIPE NCC, ENOG supports the development of Internet connectivity in the Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, Armenian, Azerbaijanian, and other primarily post-Soviet regional communities. ENOG includes members from Rostelecom, Scaleway, SVK-Telecom, Yandex, DE-CIX, Servers.com, Megalink, and more.
"In view of the recent events (if not even the prior events), the said 'ENOG community' does not exist anymore," ENOG Programme Committee (PC) Chair Töma Gavrichenkov said in a post to the RIPE forum.
"I, hereby, with all due respect, request that the RIPE Executive Board formally dissolve ENOG and cancel all the potential future meetings indefinitely."
He said that, under normal circumstances, such a decision should have gone to a vote.
"However, we currently have several PC members under ongoing missile attacks, and I therefore don't believe it is sane to arrange any vote in the PC."
Gavrichenkov added: "Additionally, at the moment, being a Russian citizen, I don't believe I should assume there's a consensus in the entire RIPE Service Region to still invest trust in me, without further due diligence, to hold any official community position in the RIPE community; therefore, I hereby step down as the PC Chair."
Alex Semenyaka, external relations officer for the RIPE NCC, said that he agreed that the community no longer existed, and was resigning from the position of ENOG PC Vice-Chair. Last June, Semenyaka was accused by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of working with Ukrainian counterintelligence, and was banned from Russia for 25 years.
The resignations were met by a mixed reaction by the RIPE forum community.
One Russian member criticized the decision, calling it an escalation, adding: "Maybe it is more expedient to hand over the management to someone else."
A Ukrainian member replied: "Kharkiv is being shelled by MRLS from Russia's territory. Chernihiv is being shelled by MRLS and aircraft from Belarus' territory. Kyiv is being shelled by Iskanders from Belarus' territory. I've seen explosions of your P-500 rockets by my own eyes from my window. Mariupol is being ruined with shellings from all sides. Your crazy president ordered to open fire on Zaporizhya nuclear plant. It is the biggest NPP in Europe."
The member continued: "You may push your 'deep regrets' in your ass. ENOG is dead from 2014 [the year of Russia's annexation of the Crimea], let's finally bury it."
The conversation, which drew in comments from members in Ukraine, Russia, and elsewhere, devolved further.
"It's now up to the members of the RIPE NCC Executive Board to decide on future actions, and I urge the RIPE NCC Executive Board to act," Gavrichenkov said in his resignation letter. "It is entirely up to the RIPE NCC Executive Board to consider any future alignments to replace ENOG."
RIPE declined to comment. The group previously declined a request from the Ukrainian government to help disconnect Russia, in a move that has been mostly welcomed by the community, but has drawn some criticism.
ENOG previously planned to hold its next RIPE NCC Regional Meeting this June in Moscow, Russia.
