Russian leader vladimir putin has publicly acknowledged for the first time that there are problems with mobile internet access in the country, attributing them to the need to ensure internal security. This was noted by analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
As noted, on April 23, during a meeting with the government, putin acknowledged that residents of major cities and border regions are facing difficulties due to mobile internet restrictions imposed during so-called “terrorist attacks” — which is how the kremlin refers to Ukraine’s strikes on russian military and infrastructure targets.
At the same time, he stated that the safety of the population, especially civilians, remains a priority for the authorities. Amid public discontent, putin instructed the government to ease some of the restrictions — specifically, to create a “whitelist” of services that will operate even during outages, as well as to develop wired communications in border areas.
Analysts emphasize that this is the first time the kremlin leader has openly acknowledged such restrictions. Previously, only kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had spoken publicly about them.
The ISW believes: "Putin’s acknowledgement of the impact of these outages on the everyday lives of Russians, who are already increasingly bearing the burden of Putin’s war in Ukraine, is likely both a response to his dropping approval ratings and a way to justify continued restrictions on mobile internet amid the Kremlin’s broader censorship campaign."
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, a massive collapse of government and financial services is being observed in russia, the aggressor state.
In russia, authorities continue to block internet access under the pretext of security and combating Ukrainian drones. At the same time, they are testing the implementation of “whitelists” of websites that will remain accessible even during outages.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.