The Kremlin says the coverage has been turned off to prevent drone attacks. Russians are fed up

Russia’s government is tightening its internet controls, with widespread outages and restrictions already defining 2025 for its citizens. These sweeping measures are affecting daily life, from public transportation to vital health monitoring.

The impact is profound: credit cards for public transportation failed, ATMs shut down, and messaging apps shut down. Mobile phones often lose texts and data after international travel, and mothers of children with diabetes report that they are unable to monitor blood sugar levels while on vacation.

For months, mobile phone internet shutdowns have affected dozens of Russian regions, apparently thwarting Ukrainian drone strikes. Popular messaging apps are also banned, with the government promoting a state-controlled alternative critics say is a surveillance tool.

Although broadband and Wi-Fi Internet access remains unaffected, Russians contacted by The Associated Press described digital disruptions in their daily lives. All spoke anonymously for protection.

white lists

Widespread cellphone internet shutdowns began in May and continued through the summer and autumn. In November, an average of 57 Russian regions reported daily disruptions in cellphone links, according to Na Sivazhi, an activist group monitoring the shutdown.

Officials say the blockages are designed to prevent Ukrainian drones from exploiting mobile networks for navigation.

kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov He said they were “absolutely appropriate and necessary”, but analyst Kateryna Stepanenko said WashingtonThe Institute for War Studies said they have not been effective in curbing the intensification of Ukraine’s drone attacks, “given the number of attacks we have seen on Russian oil refineries in recent months.”

In many regions, only a handful of government-approved Russian websites and online services – designated “white lists” – are available during the connectivity blackout.

What is available on the “white list” varies by provider and includes official websites, email and social media platforms, two online marketplaces, and the Russian search engine Yandex and its services. One provider provides access to banking apps, but others do not. Officials have promised to expand the lists.

marinawho lives in a pacific coast city vladivostokdescribed his concern when he learned that only an app for the government-controlled bank was working during the mobile internet shutdown and wondered what it meant for the future.

“To me, that’s the scariest thing,” she said. “The loss of information, the loss of freedom, essentially, is the most frustrating thing to me.”

In Volga River Ulyanovsk city, about 700 kilometers (435 mi) east moscowOne resident described how his credit card was not working when he tapped it on a tram’s payment terminal during an outage. He did not have enough cash.

Family Children suffering from diabetes say that they cannot monitor their children’s glucose levels through special apps when they are in school and cellphone internet is down. Mothers in social media posts explain that children can often miss the moment when their blood sugar levels change, requiring intervention, and special apps have allowed parents to see this remotely and alert them. It gets disrupted due to disconnection.

Officials have tried to promote the joys of reconnecting with a technology-free lifestyle.

Internet regulatory agency Roskomnadzor posted a cartoon on social media showing two scenes of a young man: one staring at his phone in a dark apartment and the other happily strolling in a park with a cup of coffee and a book.

Going offline “doesn’t mean losing touch. Sometimes it means getting in touch with yourself,” the cartoon advises.

But the post drew mostly angry and sarcastic comments.

SIM card

A recent anti-drone ban sets a 24-hour “cooling period” during which data and text are blocked from SIM cards that were taken abroad or were inactive for 72 hours. The owner can unblock it through a link received by text message.

However, if the SIM card is used in Internet-connected devices or devices without an interface to receive text messages, such as a portable Wi-Fi router, car or meter box, unblocking becomes impossible.

Lawmaker Andrei Svintsov said this Russia There are many electricity meters with SIM cards that broadcast readings once a month.

“Does this mean they will all die? All the heating boilers will stop, and that’s it.” Sugar Will cars stop working? This is a big problem and I don’t know whether the government is aware of it or not,” he said.

Other restrictions targeted two popular messaging apps: WhatsApp, with about 96 million monthly users in October, and Telegramwith 91 million, according to media monitoring group Mediascope.

Authorities began restricting calls on these apps in August, reportedly to prevent phone scams, and they have been blocked in some parts of Russia. Yelena, who lives in the southern city of Krasnodar, recalled a time in October when Telegram was not available at all, affecting her and her colleagues’ work.

None of the apps are in the government’s “white list”.

Russian messaging service is on the list MaxThe authorities are actively promoting it and since September it is required to preinstall this service on all smartphones in Russia, Critics see it as a surveillance tool because MAX openly declares that it will share user data with authorities upon request, Experts also say that it does not use end-to-end encryption,

State institutions, authorities and businesses are being encouraged to migrate communications and blogs to MAX. Vladivostok resident Marina said her employers are pushing people to use the MAX due to low enthusiasm. She said she doesn’t plan to institute it, and neither do others contacted by the AP.

Max developers claim to have around 50 million users registered on its platform, which it says offers messaging and other services.

MediaScope said MAX had about 48 million monthly users in October, but only 18.9 million average daily users, much lower than WhatsApp’s average daily totals of 81 million and Telegram’s 68 million.

Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster, said many Russians feel about the restrictions the same way they feel about the weather: Ultimately, you can’t do anything about it.

Volkov said the authorities’ strategy appears to be to make it harder for average users to access “alternative content” so that they eventually stop looking for it. “Those who are not interested will choose simpler channels and ways to navigate the Internet,” he said.

That sentiment was echoed by an Ulyanovsk resident, who said he uses a virtual private network to access some blocked websites and platforms, but VPN’s also get blocked regularly, so he has to install a new one every few months.

A small group of his friends exchange recommendations on VPNs, but he believes most people won’t put in that much effort.

Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the Internet Protection Society activist group, says the Internet is linked to so many economic activities that it is not possible to shut it down completely.

“Groceries are being shipped to stores — it’s being done through the Internet, ordering, processing, etc.,” he said. “A truck is on the road, it’s connected to an information system, maps, navigation, all of it.”

But they anticipate further crackdowns on websites, VPNs and platforms, including blocking messenger apps Telegram and WhatsApp entirely and possibly other, unanticipated measures.

He said, “To be honest, I’m looking at all this with raised eyebrows. It seems like they’ve already come up with everything, and they’re still coming up with something else.”