\u201cWe\u2019re used to paying with cards or smartphones and having constant connectivity,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now it\u2019s important to accept temporary restrictions as a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, with a patronizing jab, Gutenev added: \u201cDon\u2019t turn into a hipster who only lives in the centre of Moscow. Life is not limited to comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason? National security, of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also, Ukrainian drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also, because we said so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, forget your cards, your banking apps, your streaming services. The Motherland demands cash payments, offline living and an end to all this whining about modern comforts.<\/p>\n
\t\topinion \t\t\t\tWhat Is Behind Russia’s Wartime Prosperity Paradox? These outages, which have hit 77 regions, sometimes all at once, are officially meant to stop Ukrainian drones from using mobile networks to find their targets. In practice, they have stopped shopkeepers from taking card payments<\/a>, taxi drivers from navigating and small businesses from functioning. It is a digital Iron Curtain: clunky, controlling and straight out of the Soviet playbook.<\/p>\n If multiple reports are true, Russians\u2019 WhatsApp and Telegram chats will soon be joining Netflix and Visa in exile, while officials in Crimea are already bracing for months of extended internet blackouts.<\/p>\n Moscow\u2019s censors, inspired by China\u2019s Great Firewall, are now working on their own knockoff version \u2014 call it the Great Wall of Russia, assembled with Soviet-era concrete and held together with duct tape.\u00a0<\/p>\n VPNs, once the quiet lifeline of students, journalists and anyone with curiosity, are being hunted like contraband cigarettes. Soon, the only \u201cV-P-N\u201d permitted may well be the \u201cVery Patriotic Network,\u201d a safe and state-approved gateway<\/a> to the internet that conveniently loads nothing but Kremlin press releases and the weather forecast for Sochi.<\/p>\n Younger Russians, raised on Instagram, Yandex cabs and instant payments, will feel the loss far more sharply than their parents, who actually remember queues for toilet paper.<\/p>\n It is not just internet access. Over the last few months, Russia has been quietly reviving old-school barter deals<\/a>, swapping chickpeas and lentils for Pakistani rice and mandarins as sanctions tighten their grip on the economy.<\/p>\n The Kremlin\u2019s economic strategy seems to be part fortress, part village marketplace. It is tall enough to block outside influence, but still porous enough for trade in legumes.<\/p>\n The Kremlin Survival Guide (2025 Edition)<\/p>\n Cash is king: Sleep on your savings<\/a> under the mattress. To an outsider, it may look like deprivation. But for many Russians, the adjustment is less about hardship and more about habit. A country that endured bread lines, ration cards, and the chaos of the 1990s has learned to live without convenience, and sometimes without choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Kremlin\u2019s gamble rests on a familiar formula: frame scarcity as resilience, sell isolation as sovereignty and count on the public to swap card payments for cash, online shopping for face-to-face bargaining and global connectivity for state-approved news feeds.<\/p>\n Moscow\u2019s leaders know that these conditions would provoke unrest anywhere else. In Russia, they are banking on the people\u2019s endurance, on the quiet skill of making do.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rest of the world might see internet shutdowns and chickpea-for-mandarins<\/a> barter as signs of decline. But the Kremlin prefers to present them as proof of independence from the West\u2019s decadent order.<\/p>\n The message is clear: you do not need the global internet to be a proud Russian. You just need cash in your pocket, ample buckwheat in your cupboard and the good sense not to complain when the Wi-Fi cuts out.<\/p>\n \t\topinion \t\t\t\tHow Russia\u2019s New Internet Restrictions Work and How to Get Around Them Indeed, the Kremlin can only dream of sealing Russia off like China or North Korea. Half of the world\u2019s best hackers cut their teeth in a St. Petersburg basement. The same computer wizz-kids who can turn a microwave or a washing machine into a makeshift server if it runs on code to circumvent Western sanctions could turn their talents to skirting Moscow\u2019s restrictions.<\/p>\n When the Very Patriotic Network starts buffering, expect a thriving black market in outlaw SIM cards, pirate satellite dishes and USB drives passed hand-to-hand like samizdat.<\/p>\n Moscow can pull the plug. But somewhere in Novosibirsk, a teenager will be watching the BBC streaming service before the router cools. The Kremlin can slow the digital tide, but it cannot stop it without strangling the same cyber talent it quietly celebrates when it suits.<\/p>\n That is why the real bet is not on total isolation \u2014 it is on endurance.<\/p>\n The Kremlin\u2019s message is clear: security over comfort, loyalty over convenience. For a nation that survived the Siege of Leningrad, the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the chaos of the 1990s, life without the internet may be irritating, but it is nothing they cannot handle.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tragedy is how easily they have learned to handle it.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n A Message from The Moscow Times:<\/p>\n Dear readers,<\/p>\n We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has designated The Moscow Times as an “undesirable” organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a “foreign agent.”<\/p>\n These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work “discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership.” We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.<\/p>\n We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It’s quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.<\/p>\n By supporting The Moscow Times, you’re defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tContinue\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Not ready to support today? \u00d7<\/p>\n \t\tRemind me next month<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tThank you! Your reminder is set.\n\t\t<\/p>\n
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\nBarter like it\u2019s 1985: Beetroot, sugar<\/a>\u00a0and petrol are your new Bitcoin.
\nLearn to use a paper map: GPS is a luxury of the decadent West. Use the Russian GLONASS system<\/a>. If that fails, dig out your old-fashioned maps.
\nLower your expectations: If you can still message<\/a> your aunt in Vladivostok without a carrier pigeon, count yourself lucky.
\nNever complain: In Russia, \u201ctemporary inconvenience\u201d can last decades.
\nAdjust your leisure: If Turkey is the only foreign holiday left, embrace it while you still can.<\/a>
\nLoyalty over comfort: Putin once said<\/a> the free internet is a CIA plot. Real patriots read Pravda in print.
\nMaster the art of queueing:\u00a0 Long lines for basics build character. Bring a book.
\nPrepare for blackout season: When the lights go out, candles and vodka are essentials, not luxuries.
\nKeep your circle tight: being too well-informed can be dangerous in a world where whispers carry weight.<\/p>\n
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Remind me later.<\/p>\n