Even stranger was the lack of communication<\/a> as to why the blackout was happening. The Kremlin<\/a> cited \u201csecurity reasons\u201d\u00a0without saying how long the cuts would last.<\/p>\n As the restrictions continued, WiFi continued to provide internet in homes and other buildings as sales of paper maps, pagers and\u00a0walkie-talkies\u00a0surged.\u00a0<\/p>\n Russian daily newspaper Izvestia ran a\u00a0front-page cartoon<\/a>\u00a0showing residents confused that their smartphones had been replaced with bricks as carrier pigeons swooped through the skies of the Russian capital.<\/p>\n Then, three weeks after it began, the block was\u00a0suddenly lifted without warning\u00a0on March 25, although connection\u00a0remained\u00a0poor in many areas.<\/p>\n A delivery courier checks his mobile phone amid a mobile internet outage in central Moscow, on March 17, 2026. \u00a9 Ramil Sitdikov, Reuters <\/p>\n At the same time, a second\u00a0blockade has begun<\/a>\u00a0in Russia\u2019s\u00a0second-largest\u00a0city, St Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n This time,\u00a0the government warned the city\u2019s 5.6 million residents in advance that\u00a0internet outages could be imminent<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0again, citing \u201csecurity reasons\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018White list\u2019 <\/p>\n In Moscow<\/a>, internet restrictions\u00a0are not new.\u00a0GPS has often been unavailable since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a> in February 2022.<\/p>\n But the\u00a0widespread\u00a0internet\u00a0outage\u00a0in Russia\u2019s two largest cities reflects a trend that has been going on in the rest of the country for the past year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In regions close to the Ukrainian border \u2013 and increasingly\u00a0throughout Russia<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 frequent internet outages have been justified by the authorities as a response to the threat of drone attacks.<\/p>\n Read moreRussia and Ukraine escalate drone attacks as Moscow starts spring offensive<\/a><\/p>\n In November 2025,\u00a057 Russian regions<\/a>,\u00a0on average,\u00a0reported daily disruptions to mobile phone links, according to Na Svyazi, an activist group monitoring shutdowns.<\/p>\n Such is the sophistication of Ukraine\u2019s current drone technology that \u201cno region of Russia<\/a> can feel safe\u201d from attack,\u00a0said Sergei Shoigu<\/a>, the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council,\u00a0on March 17.<\/p>\n In many regions, only a handful of websites and online services remained available during connectivity blackouts\u00a0\u2013\u00a0those on the government-approved \u201cwhite list\u201d.<\/p>\n People check their mobile phones while standing outside St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow on March 16, 2026. \u00a9 Anastasia Barashkova, Reuters <\/p>\n The list is largely made up of official websites, and included the unencrypted state\u00a0messaging app Max<\/a>,\u00a0which has\u00a0been pre-installed on phones and tablets sold in Russia since September.<\/p>\n The app \u2013 which is not available in Europe<\/a> \u2013 aims to be omnipresent in Russia, combining social media and messaging functions with access to government services, a digital ID card system, banking and payments.\u00a0<\/p>\n State surveillance <\/p>\n As Russia\u2019s internet users are increasingly forced to use Max, there are \u201cserious and valid concerns\u201d about government surveillance on the app, said Oleg Ignatov,\u00a0a\u00a0senior Russia analyst at Crisis Group.<\/p>\n And many users are wary of being monitored. \u201cIf you live in Russia, you would never discuss anything sensitive\u00a0on Max. You use a different messenger and discuss it in a different way,\u201d Ignatov\u00a0said.<\/p>\n But different messaging apps are becoming harder to come by.\u00a0<\/p>\n The government, citing security concerns, plans to ban\u00a0the encrypted Telegram<\/a> app\u00a0\u2013 which has\u00a0more than 96 million users<\/a>\u00a0in Russia and plays a\u00a0significant role<\/a>\u00a0in military communications \u2013 and\u00a0restrict Western platforms<\/a>\u00a0including WhatsApp, YouTube<\/a> and Meta<\/a>.<\/p>\n In this context, the internet outages look like \u201cpart of a larger effort\u201d to\u00a0isolate\u00a0the country from \u201cthe information world beyond Russia, and also to make it more difficult for people to communicate among themselves within\u00a0Russia\u201d, said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies\u00a0in London.<\/p>\n Ramping up control <\/p>\n The sudden outage in Moscow has fuelled speculation that the Russian government plans to ramp up online control and surveillance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt happened\u00a0suddenly,\u00a0without explanation, and the problem is that nobody knows why they imposed such restrictions,\u201d said Ignatov.<\/p>\n The internet cuts also provoked rare opposition. Even newspapers normally loyal to the government\u00a0critiqued the measure<\/a>\u00a0as the outage sparked\u00a0public outrage and caused economic\u00a0hardship.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-17T120618Z-108363109-RC2A6KAPMKZ9-RTRMADP-3-UKRAINE-CRISIS-RUSSIA-INTERNET.jpg\")
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