Russia faces massive internet blackout in 10 regions amid new state control

The issues began on November 15, when the internet went down in Vladimir, Ivanovo, Kostroma, and Yaroslavl regions. In Yaroslavl, the outage was reportedly caused by a damaged backbone channel.

The internet later went down in the Murmansk region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and partially in Krasnodar Krai. Notably, users were still able to access websites on a "white list."

Overnight and into the morning of November 16, problems spread to Mari El, Udmurtia, Amur, Belgorod, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Samara, and Chelyabinsk regions.

Authorities may be deliberately restricting internet

Specialized sources note that the nature of the outages does not resemble typical network failures. The selective access with a preserved "white list" aligns with one of the scenarios under the law on the "sovereign Runet."

It is currently unclear whether the disruption resulted from failed network isolation drills, a centralized filtering command, or a widespread equipment failure.

Russian media report that the internet problems began after President Vladimir Putin held a Security Council meeting on countering online "violations." Shortly before this, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) was granted the authority to disconnect the Runet from the global internet and block any websites.

Previously, reports indicated that Russia began shutting down mobile internet "until the end of the special military operation," with Ulyanovsk being the first city affected.

Additionally, Russian authorities decided to introduce a 24-hour "cooling-off period" during which mobile internet and SMS will not work. This measure will apply to subscribers returning from abroad.