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.
No, the Freenom registrar (the Dutch dude) had a contract to issue .ml domains for 10 years. That expired. Other registrars can register .ml domains without issue, as long as their contracts with the government remain.