Ukraine’s General Staff Plans to Restrict Mobile Internet During Russian Attacks

The General Staff of Ukraine does not plan to cut mobile communications but may restrict mobile internet during attacks by Russian drones.

Major General Andriy Hnatov, Chief of the General Staff, shared this news with the Novyny.LIVE journalist Halyna Ostapovets at the YES 2025 conference.

“This refers to local restrictions on the quality of communication — for example, reducing 4G or 5G capacity. This is necessary so that enemy devices do not have access to the network,” he said.

The Ukrinform news agency, citing a source in the General Staff, separately confirmed the information. The source stated that air-defense units have recently discovered SIM cards from mobile operators of several countries, including Ukrainian ones, in downed enemy UAVs; such SIMs can be used for targeting purposes. As a result, domestic operators may be asked to block mobile internet during air-raid alerts.

“There is sense in such measures. How necessary they are depends on the situation. In some cases, it may be advisable to reduce mobile internet speeds to limit UAVs operating in FPV mode. The extent to which this will be used depends on analysis of downed drones — whether there are SIM cards and what they are used for,” Hnatov added.

At the end of June, Oleksandr Vysikan, chief forensic expert at the Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, reported that new batches of Russian Shahed-136 strike drones have been widely fitted with modules that connect to Ukrainian mobile networks.

Modems linking to Ukrainian mobile networks have also been found on Russian Gerbera and V2U drones, as well as on several unidentified and emerging models intended for use in rear-area operations.