MOSCOW - Russian internet monitoring services reported thousands of glitches in the availability of video hosting site YouTube on Thursday, amid escalating criticism of the platform by the Russian authorities.

Russian internet monitoring service Sboi.rf said that there had been thousands of glitches reported about YouTube in Russia. Users said they could only access YouTube via virtual private networks (VPNs).

"YouTube is not working," one anonymous user said in comments on the site.

Reuters reporters in Russia were unable to access YouTube. The website remained available via some mobile devices.

YouTube download speeds have notably slowed in recent weeks, for which Russian lawmakers have blamed YouTube owner Alphabet's Google, something the company disputes.

  - Reuters