01 · Operator
Who operates SputnikBot
- Company
- Rostelecom (Sputnik)
02 · Behavior
What SputnikBot does
SputnikBot crawled web pages to build the Sputnik search index. Sputnik launched in 2014. Rostelecom removed its search box in 2020.
03 · Impact
Why SputnikBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Few reasons today, since the search engine no longer exists
If you block it
- The search engine is defunct
- Current requests with this name cannot be verified
04 · Allow
How to allow SputnikBot
robots.txt
User-agent: SputnikBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "SputnikBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: SputnikBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "SputnikBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} SputnikBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block SputnikBot
Start with robots.txt. If SputnikBot keeps showing up in your logs, block it at your CDN or web server.
robots.txt
User-agent: SputnikBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "SputnikBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: SputnikBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "SputnikBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} SputnikBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for SputnikBot
The user agent published by the operator:
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; SputnikBot/2.3)07 · Verification
Is it really SputnikBot?
SputnikBot’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about SputnikBot
Is SputnikBot still active?
The Sputnik search engine it served was shut down. Rostelecom removed the search box in 2020.
Should I block SputnikBot?
Blocking it has no downside, because the search engine it served no longer exists.
Last reviewed Oct 8, 2026