Was there some sort of assurance that nothing was going to happen when the contract expired, and this expectation was changed? Freenom hasn’t been registering domains since Jan 1.
It’s seeming a little odd to me that this is catching people with their pants down.
Why is it surprising that a ccTLD is reclaimed by their own designated country? Same with .vu and .tk
vu: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/vu.html
tk: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/tk.html
ml: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ml.html
Both .tk and .vu are free to use by anyone with minimal restrictions. Paid .tk & .vu domains have no restrictions