Kremlin says Russia’s internet restrictions will be lifted once the need for them disappears
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s internet restrictions would be lifted once the “necessity” for them disappears.
“It’s clear that the restrictions on internet access are causing inconvenience for many people. But this is the situation right now. Once the need for these measures is gone, service will be fully restored and normalized,” Peskov told reporters, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
“The majority of our fellow citizens understand the rationale and necessity of these measures,” he said.
Russians are also accepting of the messaging app restrictions, Peskov said, once again attributing them to the apps’ failure to comply with Russian law.
Authorities across Russia regularly impose mobile internet restrictions, citing among other reasons the threat of drone attacks. During such restrictions, users are supposed to retain access to sites on “white lists” compiled by the Digital Development Ministry. Previously, the restrictions were imposed primarily in regions bordering Ukraine, particularly in the Belgorod Region, where authorities acknowledged that even the “white lists” were not working properly. In 2026, the restrictions and “white lists” were also reported to have been applied in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.
Since early March, users in Russia have been experiencing disruptions to Telegram. By mid-April, experts said the level of anomalies indicating signs of a Telegram block had reached 95 percent.
Meduza readers described how significantly their lives had changed and grown more difficult because of internet blocks and outages in Russia. Discontent with the restrictions has been voiced publicly even by people who do not normally criticize the government, including politicians, celebrities, pro-Kremlin public figures, and bloggers. A political consultant working with Russia’s Presidential Administration told Meduza that the internet restrictions are one of the reasons for the government’s falling approval ratings.
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