Russia’s telecom watchdog claims to be working on a new, more effective filtering mechanism to prevent Russians from accessing forbidden digital content, including unauthorized online gambling sites.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Tass news agency reported on a speech given by Alexander Zharov, head of Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications (Roskomnadzor), at a meeting with federal legislators in Moscow.

Zharov (pictured) was quoted saying Roskomnadzor was developing “a completely new system of filtering and blocking [illegal] content.” Zharov acknowledged that Roskomnadzor was “all the time running from behind with a fly swatter” but claimed that the new system would be up and running within a year, after which “the situation will change dramatically.”

The ‘situation’ Zharov referred to is Roskomnadzor’s demonstrated inability to erect an effective digital firewall against unapproved online content, including any online gambling site that isn’t among the 15 online sports betting operators currently holding a Russian license.