Overview
- Putin, speaking at a government meeting Thursday, said shutdowns are operative measures to stop attacks and told officials to explain outages after the fact and keep Gosuslugi, payments, and doctor-booking systems online.
- Mobile internet has been cut in multiple regions, including Moscow and other big cities, and services such as Telegram and WhatsApp remain blocked as Russia also moves to curb VPNs.
- The restrictions have drawn rising pushback at home, with political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya calling Putin’s focus on messaging typical and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier acknowledging complaints after a viral influencer video.
- The Institute for the Study of War says Putin’s public defense likely responds to sliding approval ratings and seeks to place continuing mobile blackouts within a broader Kremlin censorship drive.
- Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets, including oil sites, have continued despite the curbs, which undercuts claims that cutting connectivity stops such attacks.