US telecommunications company Lumen Technologies is reducing its links to Russia, following the country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Formerly known as CenturyLink, Lumen operates more than 500,000 global route miles of fiber and 170,000 on-net buildings.

Update: Lumen has now decided to fully disconnect from Russia "due to increased security risk inside Russia."

The company said: "We have not yet experienced network disruptions, but given the increasingly uncertain environment and the heightened risk of state action, we took this move to ensure the security of our and our customers’ networks, as well as the ongoing integrity of the global Internet."

However, while it said that the decision was immediate, that has yet to be reflected in global Internet traffic.

Original story continues:

"Lumen has stopped the sale of all new products and services to both Russian-based companies and non-Russian based companies, where the services will be provided in Russia," the company said in a post on its website.

"We have terminated an agreement to provide services to an existing Russian financial institution and we have withdrawn our name from consideration for new business with another Russian financial institution. In addition, we have rejected requests for services from sanctioned Russian entities."

In an FAQ for customers and investors, it admitted that its "business interactions in Russia and Ukraine are not material," so it is not expected to take a serious financial hit from the decision.

But Lumen is the top international transit provider to Russia, Kentick's director of Internet analysis, Doug Madory, believes. The company counts Rostelecom, TTK, as well as all three major mobile operators (MTS, Megafon and VEON) as customers.

"While they may not take on any new customers in Russia, they may be carrying more traffic with the loss of Cogent as a transit alternative," Madory said.

Rival Internet backbone operator Cogent last week fully terminated its commercial relationships in Russia, with businesses shifting to Lumen, Vodafone, and Arelion.

Cogent's decision is also thought to have had downstream impacts on Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Companies like Ericsson, Microsoft, Oracle, Netflix, and Sabre are among a growing number of businesses exiting Russia.