Russia Starts Shutting Down Mobile Internet Until the End of the War – Ulyanovsk Is the First

In many districts of Ulyanovsk and several nearby towns, mobile internet has been unavailable for over a week.

Unlike previous restrictions, this shutdown is not related to air raid alerts – it has been introduced permanently, local outlet BezFormata reports.

The reason is a decision by federal authorities to expand security zones around strategic facilities in an effort to counter attacks by Ukrainian kamikaze drones.

The restrictions apply across all of Russia, and regional authorities have no power to change them.

According to Oleg Yagfarov, Minister of Digital Development, the duration of the restrictions has not been set – they will remain in effect until the end of the war.

Residential areas, social institutions, and office buildings have fallen within the blackout zone. Due to state secrecy, maps of the affected areas are not published. For many residents, this means losing their only way to access the internet.

To partially offset the losses, “white lists” of websites have been introduced – these sites are supposed to remain accessible even within the “blind” zones. The list includes Gosuslugi, Yandex, VKontakte, Ozon, Wildberries, and others.