Russia is now enforcing a 24-hour internet blackout on SIM cards entering the country, and claims the move is to help prevent Ukrainian drone strikes—though some observers believe it may have more ulterior motives.
According to the country’s Ministry for Digital Development, if a user’s SIM card enters the country from abroad, They will now need to wait a whole day To access the internet, unless they solve a captcha or call their telecom operator to verify their identity. SIM card “cooling” will also affect SIM cards that have been inactive for more than 72 hours.
As the Record reports, the ministry says the move will “ensure the safety of Russian citizens,” as SIM cards with mobile internet can be placed inside enemy drones and used for navigation.
Some sources have questioned whether Ukrainian drones actually need mobile internet to operate. Medusa, an independent Russian publication, highlighted that modern drones are not directly controlled via mobile internet, and do not require an active SIM card to fly. However, they can use SIM card-based transmission for tasks such as data collection and recording routes to optimize future strikes.
Since the start of the war in 2022, Russia’s authoritarian approach to the internet has intensified, with the government trying to steer people away from encrypted, foreign-owned messaging services like WhatsApp and toward sanctioned domestic alternatives like the messaging app Max. Last year, Russia deliberately reduced load times on YouTube after deleting channels featuring Russian public figures.
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New mobile internet shutdowns continue. Residents of the Russian city of Ilvansk were recently told that mobile internet would be cut off until the end of the war, although some government-sanctioned websites would remain accessible.
Some observers, such as the digital rights group Access Now, argue that Russia’s internet shutdowns are politically motivated rather than a wartime necessity. For example, it shut down the Internet during national holidays such as Victory Day to suppress unwanted political speech on social media. An infographic from Medusa noted that the places most affected by internet blackouts were in some cases hundreds or thousands of miles from the country’s borders with Ukraine.
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I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to manually install games from multiple CD-ROMs. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human life. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.
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