Russian governor asks for ‘understanding’ as Krasnoyarsk region enters fourth day without mobile Internet
After several days of reported outages, the head of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, Mikhail Kotyukov, confirmed on Tuesday morning that “temporary restrictions” have been placed on mobile Internet access in the area.
According to the governor, the restrictions are tied to “the need to strengthen security measures in certain parts of the Krasnoyarsk region, based on the current intelligence and to prevent online threats.”
He did not specify the nature of the threats he was referring to. Russia’s Defense Ministry has not reported any Ukrainian drone attacks in the region.
“As you know, similar measures are currently in place in other parts of the country as well. I ask for your understanding. Protecting residents and infrastructure is our top priority right now,” Kotyukov said.
Residents of the Krasnoyarsk region began reporting mobile Internet outages on Saturday. Mobile providers MTS and Beeline said the disruptions were caused by circumstances beyond their control. The provider T2 added that the outages were “due to security measures.”
Several hours after Kotyukov’s announcement, the anti-terrorism commission in the country’s Sverdlovsk region announced “temporary restrictions and slowdowns of mobile Internet service” to “strengthen security.”
“In conditions where mobile networks may be unstable, we recommend using wired Internet or Wi-Fi, planning routes in advance using offline maps, and considering alternative payment methods that don’t rely on an Internet connection,” the commission said in a statement.
