Last week, Meduza asked its readers in Russia how they’re living amid mobile Internet shutdowns and restrictions, which have become worse in recent weeks. We received hundreds of responses from dozens of cities. Together, they show how much everyday life has changed — and how much harder basic tasks have become. We’re sharing some of the most notable responses, translated into English.
Olga
Kazan
The last straw wasn’t problems with Telegram, but with the Internet itself. For the past couple of weeks, it’s basically been gone. Providers are throttling it themselves. It’s very hard to work, and sending files is even worse. At first we switched to email with clients, then some people installed [the Kremlin-backed “national messenger” app] Max, though others refused on principle. But what’s the point of that kind of principle — lowering your productivity, lowering your income? No thanks. That’s one thing I’m not going to let the system do to me.
Of course I’m not ready to accept this. I don’t think it will lead to mass protests. But maybe businesses will try to defend themselves somehow — the country is in a deep recession, there are mass layoffs. Another year of this economy, on top of losing communication — I can’t imagine where we’ll end up.
Vladimir
Kandalaksha
It’s not a huge problem. For now, VPNs are still managing to get around the whitelists. The companies that sell them made adjustments in time. You just pick: this one’s for torrents, this one’s for whitelists. Everything works well enough.
I just got back from Istanbul. Of course, when you’re using the Internet like a normal person, without a VPN, everything loads instantly. Instagram is incredible. With a VPN, no matter what anyone says, it’s still slower.
I think people will only really get upset when there’s no Internet access at all. And even then, who knows. When I tell foreign friends about this, they don’t understand how the government is still in power. For them, Internet access is a basic need. When you come back home from abroad, your first impression is how angry and dissatisfied everyone is. You feel it right away — at the airport, then on the bus, in stores, everywhere.
Dmitry
Moscow
Whitelists are only in place in central Moscow — they don’t exist on the outskirts. From what I’ve seen, people in the metro are still texting and scrolling social media like before. I think most people simply don’t care about losing access to anything outside the whitelist, because it covers almost all their needs.
I’m preparing to stay in touch with people through [the decentralized, open-source messenger] Delta Chat or just email. There’s no discontent, and there won’t be any. People accept everything and adapt — like with bad weather.
Alina
Omsk
In my case, the Internet has basically been broken since 2025, because I live near the largest oil refinery in Russia, where my dad works now. Phones are banned there entirely, though workers sneak in old button phones.
Otherwise, everything’s rolled back to the 2010s — there’s no connection, we just text and call. Now, because of the whitelists, you can order a taxi through an app again, but before that you had to call. Banks and online stores still don’t work.
The era of free and accessible Internet is over. I don’t think there will be mass protests — everyone around me has just adapted. Since [the full-scale invasion on] February 24 [2022], I have no idea when Russia will reach a breaking point with everything that’s happening.
Elizaveta
Tomsk region
The Internet in my city and region broke back in July, when I came home from a trip. Since then, I’ve gotten used to it. Obviously, nothing works in the city center — not even [the Russian social network] vk (it deserves to be written in lowercase), and that’s basically just for school chats. Believe it or not, that’s a problem too. You can’t load a damn thing, nothing works — and foreign sites are a whole separate nightmare (thanks, Roskomnadzor ❤️).
Even something as simple as messaging to ask which classroom your lecture is in becomes a problem when you’re on the move and mobile Internet barely works — and you’re staring at that supposedly fast 4G+ signal.
Honestly — NO FUCKING WAY am I ready to accept this. I don’t believe you can just shove a country built on piracy, a people who survived by making do with nothing, into a box and expect that to work. What an experiment.
Igor
Saratov
I don’t really have major problems or worries about things being blocked as such. For now, everything — including Telegram — works reliably through a VPN. What surprises me is the mass panic. So many services have already been blocked, people are in prison over their words, there’s a bloody war going on — what exactly were people expecting? Welcome to reality.
It’s impossible to accept this — not just the blocking, but more importantly the war and the repression. I feel deep hatred toward Putin and his accomplices. But what difference does it make? People swallowed the war and mobilization — they’ll swallow this too. As long as people in Russia have something to eat, I wouldn’t expect any mass protests.
