Frustrations grow in Russia over cellphone internet outages that disrupt
daily life
[November 22, 2025] By
DASHA LITVINOVA
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When Russians look back at 2025, they might
remember it as the year when the government took even tighter control of
the internet.
Credit cards that won't buy a ticket on public transport. ATMs that
don't connect to a network. Messaging apps that are down. Cellphones
that don't receive texts or data after a trip abroad. Mothers of
diabetic children even complain with alarm that they can't monitor their
kids' blood glucose levels during outages.
The cellphone internet shutdowns, ostensibly to thwart Ukrainian drone
attacks, have hit dozens of Russian regions for months. Popular
messaging apps also are restricted, with the government promoting a
state-controlled app seen by critics as a possible surveillance tool.
Although broadband and Wi-Fi internet access remain unaffected, Russians
contacted by The Associated Press described digital disruptions to their
daily lives. All spoke on condition of not being fully identified for
their own safety.
Blackouts and ‘white lists’ are part of Russian strategy
Widespread cellphone internet shutdowns began in May and persisted
through summer and into the fall. In November, 57 Russian regions on
average reported daily disruptions to cellphone links, according to Na
Svyazi, an activist group monitoring shutdowns.
Authorities say these outages are designed to prevent Ukrainian drones
from tapping mobile networks for navigation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they are “absolutely justified and
necessary,” but analyst Kateryna Stepanenko of the Washington-based
Institute for the Study of War said they haven’t been effective in
curbing the intensity of Ukraine’s drone attacks, “given the amount of
strikes we’ve seen in recent months on Russian oil refineries.”
In many regions, only a handful of government-approved Russian websites
and online services — designated as being on “white lists” — are
available during connectivity blackouts.
What's available on the “white lists” varies by provider and includes
official websites, email and social media platforms, two online markets,
and the Russian search engine Yandex and its services. One provider
offers access to a banking app, but others don’t. Authorities have
promised to expand the lists.
Marina, who lives in the Pacific coast city of Vladivostok, described
her anxiety when she discovered only one app for a government-controlled
bank was working during a mobile internet outage and she wondered what
this meant for the future.
“For me, this is the scariest thing," she said. "The loss of
information, the loss of freedom, essentially, is the most depressing
thing for me.”
In the Volga River city of Ulyanovsk, about 700 kilometers (435 miles)
east of Moscow, one resident described how his credit card didn't work
when he tapped it on the payment terminal on a tram during an outage. He
wasn't carrying enough cash.
Families with diabetic children say they can't monitor their children's
glucose levels via special apps when they are at school and cellphone
internet is down. Mothers in social media posts explain that children
often can miss the moment when their blood sugar levels change,
requiring an intervention, and special apps allowed parents to see that
remotely and warn them. Connection outages disrupt that.
Authorities have tried touting the joys of reconnecting with a
technology-free lifestyle.
Internet regulatory agency Roskomnadzor posted a cartoon on social media
showing two views of a young man: one in a dark apartment staring at his
phone and another strolling happily in a park, carrying a cup of coffee
and a book.
Going offline “doesn’t mean losing touch. Sometimes it means getting in
touch with yourself,” the cartoon advised.
But the post mostly drew angry and sarcastic comments.
Restrictions set on SIM cards
One recent anti-drone restriction sets 24-hour “cooling periods” during
which data and texts are blocked from SIM cards that were carried abroad
or have been inactive for 72 hours. The owner can unblock it via a link
received by text message.
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A woman looks at her smartphone in central Moscow, Russia, Thursday,
Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
 Unblocking becomes impossible,
however, if a SIM card is used in internet-connected appliances or
equipment without interfaces for receiving text messages, like
portable Wi-Fi routers, cars or meter boxes.
Lawmaker Andrei Svintsov noted that Russia has many electricity
meters with SIM cards that transmit readings once a month.
“Does this mean they’ll all die? All the heating boilers will shut
down, and all the Chinese cars will stop working? This is a massive
problem, and I don’t know if the government is even aware of it,” he
said.
Messaging apps are targeted
Other restrictions targeted two popular messaging apps: WhatsApp,
with about 96 million monthly users in October, and Telegram, with
91 million, according to media monitoring group Mediascope.
Authorities began restricting calls on these apps in August,
supposedly to stop phone scams, and are throttling them in some
parts of Russia. Yelena, in the southern city of Krasnodar, recalled
a time in October when Telegram wasn’t available at all, affecting
the work of her and her colleagues.
Neither app is on the government “white list.”
On the list is Russian messaging service MAX. Authorities actively
promote it and since September the service is required to be
preinstalled on all smartphones in Russia. Critics see it as a
surveillance tool as MAX openly declares it will share user data
with authorities upon request. Experts also say it doesn’t use
end-to-end encryption.
State institutions, officials and businesses are being encouraged to
move communications and blogs to MAX. Marina, the Vladivostok
resident, said her employers are insisting on people using MAX, to
little enthusiasm. She said she doesn’t plan to install it, and
neither do others contacted by the AP.
MAX developers boast of about 50 million users registering on the
platform that it says provides messaging and other services.
Mediascope said MAX had about 48 million monthly users in October,
but only 18.9 million average daily users, which is far less than
the average daily totals of 81 million for WhatsApp and 68 million
for Telegram.
Russians shrug at restrictions
Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, Russia’s top
independent pollster, said many Russians regard the restrictions the
same way they feel about the weather: Ultimately, you can do nothing
about it.
The authorities' strategy appears to be to make it difficult for
average users to access “alternative content” so that they
eventually stop seeking it, Volkov said. Those "who are not that
interested will pick simpler channels and ways” to navigate the
internet, he said.
That sentiment was echoed by the Ulyanovsk resident who said he uses
a virtual private network to access some of the blocked websites and
platforms, but VPNs also are routinely blocked, so he must install a
new one every few months.
His tight circle of friends trade recommendations on VPNs, but he
believes most people won’t make that much effort.
Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the Internet Protection
Society activist group, says the internet is tied to too many
economic activities to shut it totally.
“Groceries are being shipped to stores — this is being done via
internet, the ordering, the processing, and so on," he said. "A
truck is on the road, it is connected to an information system,
maps, navigation, all of it.”
But he forecasts more stifling of websites, VPNs and platforms
including totally blocking messenger apps Telegram and WhatsApp and
possibly other, unexpected measures.
“Honestly, I’m watching it all with raised eyebrows. They seem to
have come up with everything already, and they’re still coming up
with something more,” he said.
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