For years, Russia was one of the most connected countries in the world. Paying for a purchase with your mobile phone, sending money using a QR code, ordering a taxi from an application or checking a route in real time were part of the daily routine of millions of people. However, something is changing.
and in numerous Russian cities, internet blackouts have become an increasingly frequent reality. What began as specific interruptions in areas near the war front has ended up reaching the political and economic heart of the country. And the consequences are already noticeable in the daily lives of citizens.
Alina, a 34-year-old project manager quoted by , had to use cash again after years of barely touching banknotes. During one of the first major outages in Moscow this year, he found himself unable to pay for food or buy a bus ticket to return home. “I had to ask my colleagues for cash,” he explains. “I even had a hard time finding my wallet.”
The return of an analog Russia
The cuts began to spread throughout the country last summer, but it was this spring when they fully reached Moscow. Since then, mobile service interruptions appear without warning. There are no official announcements or detailed explanations. Coverage simply disappears, applications stop working and a multitude of digital services become unusable.
Scenes that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago have become common again.
People using paper maps to orient themselves. Citizens carrying cash to pay for basic purchases. Users resorting to email to communicate with family members because messaging applications stop working. Even some Russians have regained the habit of calling a taxi instead of using an app.
The situation has reached such a point that state media has gone so far as to recommend alternative navigation methods, including the use of physical maps or even orienting yourself by the stars. “You cannot depend solely on the Internet. This is the new reality”a Russian deputy even stated, quoted by the British newspaper.
A worker from a Moscow supermarket chain summed up the situation in a video posted on TikTok: “Nothing works. We live as if we have returned to the Stone Age.”
The growing power of the secret services
Behind these blackouts there would not only be technical reasons or temporary security measures.
According to several sources consulted by the Financial Times, the FSB, direct heir to the former Soviet KGBhas progressively assumed control of decisions related to Internet access in Russia.
The main argument used by the authorities is related to the war in Ukraine. Moscow maintains that mobile networks can be used to coordinate drone attacks or to facilitate sabotage activities within the country. There is also growing concern about applications such as Telegram, which continue to be used by both opponents and groups linked to Ukraine.
However, the consequences of these measures are generating growing unrest among the population and also among numerous technology companies.
Russian giants such as Yandex or the e-commerce giant Ozon have already warned that the cuts represent a risk to their economic activity. Delivery services, transportation platforms and much of digital commerce are among the most affected sectors.
VPN, pet cameras and new apps
Creativity to circumvent restrictions has also skyrocketed. The market for VPNs, tools that allow you to bypass blocks and access restrictions, is experiencing a real boom. During March alone, downloads of this type of application grew exponentially, according to experts cited by the Financial Times.
Some citizens have found even more surprising solutions.
A Russian blogger living in Bali went viral after explaining that he talked to his parents using a pet camera installed in his home. While the usual applications suffered access problems, that little camera continued to work. The result was a family conversation broadcast through the device while the house cat watched the scene completely bewildered.
Meanwhile, continues to promote its own alternative. The Government is increasingly promoting national services and applications developed under state supervision within what it calls a “sovereign internet.” The objective is to build a network that is increasingly controlled and less dependent on foreign platforms.
For millions of Russians, however, the immediate consequence is much simpler and more tangible: putting cash in your pocket again, recovering old analog habits and discovering that something as mundane as checking a map or sending a message can suddenly become a small daily challenge.
