Russia limits mobile internet ahead of scaled-back WW2 victory parade

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW, May 5 (Reuters) – Russia cut off mobile internet services to many customers in Moscow on Tuesday ahead of the annual May 9 parade commemorating victory over Nazi Germany, which has been scaled back due to the threat of drone attacks from Ukraine.

Russia has this year cracked down on internet access, blocking mobile services and forcing millions to turn to VPNs as part of what President Vladimir Putin’s opponents say is an attempt to shore up domestic control after four years of war.

The Kremlin said the limits had been introduced to ensure security amid a heightened risk of Ukrainian drone attacks, but for many Russians they have complicated payments, navigation and communication.

Six Reuters reporters in different parts of the capital found that their mobile phones had no internet access. Telephone calls could still be made from many areas of Moscow, they said.

Russian mobile phone operators said there could be problems with mobile internet due to the need to ensure security over coming days. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, also cautioned that there could be issues with mobile internet and messaging.

The taxi unit of Russia’s largest internet company, Yandex, said there could be problems with ordering taxis online.

A monitoring site that tracks complaints about internet access reported mobile internet problems in a host of regions across European Russia, including Moscow and St Petersburg.

Four years after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the two sides are engaged in the biggest drone war ever fought. Their long-range drones are targeting everything from command points to energy infrastructure, far behind the “death zones” created by short-range drones along the front lines.

Ukraine attacked one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries on Tuesday, sparking a fire in an industrial area of the Russian town of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said.

The Defence Ministry said its forces had destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Kevin Liffey)