Ukrainian officials are asking a key organization responsible for the operation of the Internet to disconnect all Russian sites from the global computer network-of-networks, Rolling Stone has learned.

It’s the latest attempt to turn Russia into a pariah state in retaliation for its the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Experts call it a massive — and ill-advised — step. 

According to an email reviewed by Rolling Stone, Ukraine’s request to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) seeks to revoke domains issued in Russia and shut down primary Domain Name System (DNS) servers in the country — a move that would effectively bar access to Russian internet sites, with the potential of knocking the entire country offline.

“No one anywhere in the world would be able to reach any Russian website,” explains Bill Woodcock, Executive Director of Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit that provides support and security to a collection of software and hardware systems known as critical internet infrastructure. “People inside Russia, unless they had good connectivity to the rest of the world, would be unable to reach any other part of the Internet — just Russian parts.”

Representatives for ICANN —  a California-based nonprofit responsible for protecting “the operational stability of the internet” via the management of the global DNS root zone — verified the email’s authenticity, but declined to comment further. 

The DNS root zone is a crucial element of the overall functionality of the Internet, responsible for handling queries to top-level domains —