For two weeks now, Moscow has been experiencing problems with mobile internet. The restrictions, which the authorities justify on security grounds, are affecting not only ordinary people but also businesses. Carsharing, utility payments, transactions, parking, taxis — all of the digital services Muscovites had become accustomed to have been significantly disrupted, and there is no sign that they will be restored in full anytime soon. By the most conservative calculations, in just the first five days of the shutdown the capital’s businesses lost 3 billion rubles ($34.8 million).
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Problems with mobile internet in the city center began as early as March 6. Four days later, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov explained that access to the network had been cut off “to ensure security.”
Starting on March 13, authorities claimed that connectivity had been partially restored, and in some areas, the sites listed on government-approved «whitelists» regained connectivity, allowing users to access the services of IT giant Yandex, social network VKontakte, propaganda outlet REN TV, and McDonald’s knockoff Vkusno i Tochka, among others. However, the list excludes smaller brands, local internet providers, taxi services, independent shops, pharmacies, restaurants, airports, and much more. Most importantly, according to eyewitnesses, access even to “whitelisted” sites remains spotty.
A similar situation is unfolding in many other regions.
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For example, people in border areas of Russia’s Belgorod Region “quite often” die because of a lack of mobile internet, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said during a recent live social media broadcast, according to a report by the Telegram channel Govorit NeMoskva [cited by the Moscow Times].
The official read out messages from local residents angered by the communications shutdowns, which was imposed by the government as an apparent security measure to prevent drone attacks by Ukraine.
“Who will answer for the deaths of people who were unable to get information about drones because mobile internet was shut down? Did the people who did this use their heads at all? The whitelist system does not work for half of users, and the drones keep flying as they did before, this does not stop them. [Communications regulator] Roskomnadzor should be put on trial,” Gladkov read aloud, citing the views of Belgorod residents.
The governor, for his part, added that he “absolutely agrees with all the outrage.”
“For residents of the border area, this is an even greater threat — the lack of information, which, unfortunately, quite often leads to deaths, injuries, and destruction,” he said.
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Good