Mobile internet outages in Russia will last as long as “necessary” to ensure citizens’ safety, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after network disruptions were recorded in Moscow and other Russian cities.
It is the latest in a string of curbs imposed by the Russian authorities on internet access, after Moscow ordered restrictions on messaging apps WhatsApp, owned by US social media giant Meta, and Telegram.
Russia cited the need to combat criminal activity and has been pushing state-backed Russian rival Max instead. But Kremlin critics say it is an attempt to bolster surveillance online.
When asked at a daily briefing about how long the outages will last, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “as long as additional measures are necessary to ensure the safety of our citizens.”
He also accused Ukraine of using “increasingly sophisticated attack methods” and said that “more technologically advanced countermeasures are needed” to repel them.
Russian security services have frequently claimed that Ukraine was using Telegram to recruit people or commit acts of sabotage in Russia.
The outages have “gotten worse lately”, Nikolay, a 20-year-old student who refused to give his full name, told AFP in Moscow, adding that “using the internet has become less convenient”.
“I have problems with messaging apps, I can’t contact my loved ones,” he said.
Critics and rights campaigners say the restrictions are an attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over internet use in Russia.
They also say it will make it harder for Russians to communicate with people outside the country.
An AFP reporter experienced mobile internet disruptions in Russia’s western regions of Oryol and Tula, several hundred kilometres south of the capital Moscow.
Natalia, who works as a real estate agent in Moscow, said that “WhatsApp isn’t working, and Telegram has slowed down a lot.”
“For example, right now, it took me half an hour to receive a message I needed. It’s difficult,” the 62-year-old woman said.
But she added: “Well, we understand that this is probably a necessity, so we put up with it.”
Aleksandr, 42, who works at Russia’s oil major Lukoil, said the outages “affected my work. I can’t correspond with my customers,” forcing him to search for Wi-Fi connection where possible.
“You see where you can connect, and that’s all you have to do.”
Kod Durova, a popular Russian tech blog, said most complaints about network disruption in Moscow were registered in the capital’s central districts.
It said that since last Thursday the city was experiencing repeated local outages, with internet service at times down for all operators across entire districts.
But it added that some sites from the so-called “white list” -- essential web services allowed by the government to work during shutdowns -- were still online.
The incomplete list, launched last autumn, is constantly updated and so far includes government apps and websites, as well as some banks and state media.
The blog and Russian TV channel RBC cited anonymous sources that the shutdowns were due to the government’s tests of the white list.
The Kremlin said Tuesday that it would analyse the problems the outages pose for businesses.
“Various solutions will of course be proposed to address the problems that, unfortunately, accompany these restrictions,” said Peskov, without confirming that the shutdowns were due to the white lists testing.
bur/fg
