Confused taxi drivers, losses for shops due to the inability to pay by card and more: people in Moscow are learning to live without mobile internet. The demand for paper city maps has increased significantly.
Russian comedian Kuruch Bro (Ilya Kuruch) recently demonstrated in a video on social networks how he searches for the internet in Moscow: with a satellite dish on his back, routers on his legs and another antenna in his hand. However, most Muscovites are not having any fun at all, writes the German public broadcaster ARD. And the clip can only be seen by those who have access to the internet and social media. In Russia, Signal, WhatsApp, Instagram, Linkedin, X, Youtube and Facebook have long been accessible only if the blockade can be bypassed with a VPN.
However, the authorities are increasingly successful in blocking the "tunnel" leading to the free internet - advertising for VPN programs is prohibited, and thousands of sites are blocked, especially those of independent media and human rights organizations, ARD also reports.
The center of Moscow is paralyzed
However, the state goes even further: it constantly turns off the mobile internet. The regions have long been experimenting with this type of information curtain, and now Moscow is also affected.
Without internet on a mobile phone - the significance of this circumstance for a completely digitalized city is only seen when it gets to that point: taxis can no longer be ordered with an app, and their drivers are confused because they are left without navigation. Demand for radio stations and paper city maps has increased significantly.
Paying with a card or mobile phone also often does not work. In the center of Moscow, two young people told ARD that they tried in vain for 20 minutes to pay and ended up leaving without their purchases. Many Muscovites have started using cash again.
Russian newspapers report that in just five days of blockade, Moscow companies have lost more than 50 million euros.
The official argument: "Security considerations"
Communication via mobile phones is constantly breaking down, as many Russians use applications for calling that only work via the mobile internet.
The situation in Russia is complicated and very sad, student Anton tells the German public media. "It's scary. But what can we do?" He has an explanation for why they are turning off the mobile internet, but it's not safe to talk about it, the German public media notes.
In one of Moscow's pedestrian zones, Anastasia says that she is from the city of Belgorod - near the border with Ukraine, which is under constant shelling. "I would rather live without the internet. It would be better not to have a connection, but to live peacefully - without air raids and without screaming."
She says exactly what the Kremlin claims: turning off the mobile internet served national security. Security from drones, some suggest. But they keep flying. On Monday, for example, traffic at the St. Petersburg airport was temporarily suspended due to a drone attack.
A song against the internet on state television
A children's ensemble from Volgograd appeared on Russian state television, wearing red and white costumes, the girls with ribbons in their hair. They performed a song against the internet. "We don't want the internet, you won't find us online. We're not on your internet", the chorus reads.
As ARD writes, the Kremlin could have supplemented the song in the following way: "How practical it is to have our own internet and our own apps". Since the goal of the Russian government is for people in the country to use only those apps that the state can control.
The alternative offered by the state
Among these apps is the MAX messenger, developed by order of the state. Critics fear that messages on it are being closely monitored by intelligence agencies, the German public broadcaster notes.
Millions of Russians already pay their bills through it or can book appointments for administrative services. People with homework or parents whose children go to school have to install it to get the information they need.
But even though the internet is shut down, people in Russia can still access some sites: the so-called "white list" includes government websites and emergency services, as well as the post office and railways. There is also access to the media - but only state-controlled ones, ARD writes.
The German public media is suggesting that in the future only verified Russian content will be available on mobile internet. Demonstrations against the network blocking have been announced in some places, but it remains to be seen whether they will take place.