In the Ulyanovsk region, the mobile internet ban will remain in effect until the end of the war against Ukraine, the regional government announced at a press conference on November 8. According to regional Minister of Digital Development Oleg Yagfarov, Ulyanovsk authorities have no influence over this decision, as it is made by the federal center to ensure “national security,” and the restriction will only be lifted by a decision from Moscow. Internet access problems in the Ulyanovsk region have been ongoing for over a week, according to the Ulyanovskaya Pravda newspaper.

To justify the restrictions, the regional government cited a decision made “last week by the federal center” to expand the “security zone” around strategic facilities. Authorities emphasized that these are permanent restrictions, not temporary measures during the Ukrainian drone attack. According to Yagfarov, the outages also affected residential areas, public facilities, and office buildings.

Residents of the Ulyanovsk region were reminded of the so-called “white list” of internet services that must be available during outages. This includes Gosuslugi, Yandex, VKontakte, Ozon and Wildberries marketplaces, the Mir payment system, and others. Residents were also advised to use public Wi-Fi networks , such as those at multifunctional centers (MFCs). There are approximately 450 such hotspots in the Ulyanovsk region, according to the press conference.

“It’s important to understand now: these measures aren’t a whim of officials, or a ‘mistake by those implementing them’ who simply ‘forgot’ to turn on the internet after the alarm, but a necessity dictated by federal security requirements. And those, in turn, are dictated by enemy attacks. No telecom operator, minister, or governor can improve the situation now: only a Russian soldier can. This means that the restrictions will be lifted once the source of the threat is physically eliminated,” the officials stated.

In May 2025, Russian regional authorities began actively shutting down the internet under the pretext of ensuring security due to Ukrainian Armed Forces drone strikes. Internet shutdowns are recorded daily in more than 50 Russian regions, according to the “On the Line” project. However, authorities had not previously announced permanent shutdowns. 

Last week, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin  signed  a decree on “rules for the centralized management of the public communications network.” According to these rules, if “threats to the stability, security, and integrity” of the internet in Russia arise, Roskomnadzor will be able to disconnect the RuNet from the global internet and block any websites.

(C)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2025