{"id":72056,"date":"2025-07-18T07:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T07:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72056\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T07:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T07:33:08","slug":"russians-endure-disruptions-of-cellphone-links-to-the-internet-in-the-name-of-wartime-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72056\/","title":{"rendered":"Russians endure disruptions of cellphone links to the internet in the name of wartime security"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) \u2014 A snappy tune by a blogger that mockingly laments his poor internet connection in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don<\/a> has gotten over a half-million views on Instagram in two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to say you\u2019re from Rostov without saying a word? Show one bar of cellphone service,\u201d Pavel Osipyan raps while walking around the city, smartphone in hand. \u201cWe have internet until 12 o\u2019clock, and recently there\u2019s been no connection at all. No need to be angry, just get used to it already.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaints by Osipyan \u2014 unable to pay electronically for groceries, or having to use paper maps while driving \u2014 aren\u2019t isolated to Rostov-on-Don, which borders Ukraine and, as home to Russia\u2019s Southern Military District, is targeted frequently by drones.<\/p>\n

In the last two months, cellphone internet shutdowns, which officials say are needed to foil Ukrainian drones<\/a>, have hit dozens of Russian regions \u2014 from those near the fighting to parts of Siberia and even the Far East. Some Wi-Fi outages also have been reported.<\/p>\n

Russians contacted by The Associated Press talked about card payments not going through, taxi and ride-sharing apps not working properly, ATMs that sometimes fail.<\/p>\n

Experts point to the unprecedented nature of the measures and warn of far-reaching consequences in a country where the Kremlin already has significantly curtailed online freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Such shutdowns in the name of security legitimize them to the public and open the door for authorities abusing the restrictions, said Anastasiya Zhyrmont, policy manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the Access Now digital rights group.<\/p>\n

A signal to regional authorities<\/p>\n

Experts say the trend began in May, when Russia celebrated the 80th anniversary<\/a> of the defeat of the Nazi Germany in World War II and foreign dignitaries flocked to Moscow for a big military parade.<\/p>\n

The capital suffered severe disruptions of cellphone connectivity to the internet for days, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed those were deliberate restrictions due to regular Ukrainian drone attacks. Asked how long they\u2019d last, he replied, \u201cThis will be done as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia has restricted smartphone connectivity before, with isolated instances during protests, as well as in regions bordering Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Shutdowns in the capital, however, sent a signal to authorities across the vast country that it\u2019s a useful tool, said lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan, founder of Russian internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s \u201cOperation Spiderweb\u201d<\/a> in early June, in which drones launched from containers on trucks attacked airfields deep inside Russia, made officials all the more eager to take action, Darbinyan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got really scared that drones now may appear, like a jack-in-the-box, in any Russian regions,\u201d he told AP.<\/p>\n

By mid-July, deliberate shutdowns spread to most of the country, according to Na Svyazi \u2014 Russian for \u201cstaying connected\u201d \u2014 an activist group tracking internet availability.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the group reported cellphone internet shutdowns in 73 of over 80 regions. In 41 of them, there were reports of broadband network outages as well, while restrictions on broadband internet occurred in six regions, while cellphone connections were fine.<\/p>\n

Some regional officials confirmed that cellphone internet was restricted for security reasons. Nizhny Novgorod Gov. Gleb Nikitin said this month the measure will stay in place in the region east of Moscow for \u201cas long as the threat remains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked Thursday whether such mass shutdowns were justified, Peskov said \u201ceverything that has to do with ensuring the safety of citizens, everything is justified and everything is a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unpredictable disruptions<\/p>\n

Russians from affected regions say the outages can last for hours or days; patterns also are hard to discern, with service working in one part of a city but vanishing elsewhere.<\/p>\n

In Voronezh, near Ukraine and frequently targeted by drones, one resident said she felt like she was in \u201ca cave\u201d in early July with no cellphone internet or Wi-Fi in her home. The woman, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said she was only able to get online at work the next day.<\/p>\n

Cellphone internet in the southwestern city of Samara \u201cgoes out at the most unpredictable moments,\u201d said Natalia, who also spoke on condition that her last name be withheld for safety reasons. Her home Wi-Fi recently also has slowed to a near halt around 11 p.m., staying that way for a few hours, she said.<\/p>\n

Connectivity has improved recently in the Siberian city of Omsk, said Viktor Shkurenko, who owns retail stores and other businesses there. But cellphone internet service was out in his office for an entire week. A few of his smaller stores that rely on cellphone networks suffered disruptions, but nothing critical, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel any super strong discomfort,\u201d said Grigori Khromov of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia\u2019s fifth-largest city where regular and widespread shutdowns were reported. \u201cI have an office job and I work either at home or in the office and have either wire internet or Wi-Fi.\u201d<\/p>\n

In rural areas, small towns and villages, where cellphone internet often is the only way to get online, the situation was harder to gauge.<\/p>\n

Pharmacies in such areas have struggled, Russian media reported and the Independent Pharmacies Association confirmed to AP. Viktoria Presnyakova, head of the association, said in a statement that prescriptions must be logged in special software, but that becomes impossible without an internet connection for weeks. <\/p>\n

A social media user in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine<\/a> complained on Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov\u2019s social media page that without cellphone internet and a working alarm system, village residents have to bang on a rail to warn neighbors of an attack. The authorities promised to look into improving connectivity in the area.<\/p>\n

Authorities elsewhere also announced steps to minimize disruptions by opening Wi-Fi spots. They also are reportedly planning to establish an agency to coordinate the shutdowns, according to Izvestia, a Kremlin-backed newspaper that cited unidentified government sources. Peskov said he was unaware of the plan.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s efforts at internet control<\/p>\n

Russian and Ukrainian drones use cellphone internet networks to operate, so shutdowns are one way authorities try to counter the attacks, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also part of the Kremlin\u2019s long-term effort to rein in the internet. Authorities have actively censored online content in the last decade, blocking thousands of websites of independent media, opposition groups and human rights organizations.<\/p>\n

After Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media<\/a> like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as encrypted messenger platform Signal and a few other messaging apps.<\/p>\n

Access to YouTube \u2014 wildly popular in Russia \u2014 was disrupted last year in what experts called deliberate throttling by the authorities. The Kremlin blamed YouTube owner Google for not properly maintaining its hardware in Russia.<\/p>\n

State internet watchdogs routinely block virtual private network services that help circumvent the restrictions, and there are plans to introduce a national messenger app, expected to replace foreign ones.<\/p>\n

Along with the shutdowns, these are part of a larger campaign \u201cto establish control over the internet, which is something the Kremlin had failed to do 20 years prior on the same level that China did,\u201d said the ISW\u2019s Stepanenko.<\/p>\n

Access Now\u2019s Zhyrmont says it\u2019s \u201cvery disturbing\u201d that Russians have gotten used to living with growing internet restrictions, including shutdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shouldn\u2019t be modern reality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLINN, Estonia (AP) \u2014 A snappy tune by a blogger that mockingly laments his poor internet connection in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":72057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[7060,50423,1578,37325,5755,57,50421,50422,59,712,16044,50424,50418,257,345,158,67,132,68,50425,50420,34647,50419,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-72056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-alphabet","9":"tag-anastasiya-zhyrmont","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-dmitry-peskov","12":"tag-drones","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-gleb-nikitin","15":"tag-grigori-khromov","16":"tag-inc","17":"tag-internet","18":"tag-mobile-phones","19":"tag-pavel-osipyan","20":"tag-rostov-on-don","21":"tag-russia","22":"tag-social-media","23":"tag-technology","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-viktor-shkurenko","28":"tag-viktoria-presnyakova","29":"tag-vyacheslav-gladkov","30":"tag-wireless-technology","31":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114873080535717359","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}