Mobile internet may be restricted for three days in central Moscow
Temporary restrictions on mobile internet operations may occur in central Moscow on October 27–29 due to international summits. According to the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, regular phone calls, Wi-Fi, and access to "whitelisted" websites will remain available.
Mobile internet may be restricted in central Moscow for three days
On the evening of October 26, the Ministry announced that the restrictions apply to areas inside Moscow's Third Transport Ring.
Mobile internet may be disconnected starting from the following times:
October 27 and 28 — from 11:30 a.m. Moscow time;
October 29 — from 09:30 a.m. throughout the day.
Two international events will be held in the Russian capital on these days. The Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit is scheduled for October 27, and the "Russia - Africa" summit will take place on October 28–29.
The presidents of Iran and Equatorial Guinea, the Emir of Qatar, and the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya are expected to attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez is planned to participate via video link.
Representatives from nearly 50 African countries will attend the "Russia - Africa" summit. According to Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin intends to hold about 20 bilateral meetings with leaders of certain states.
As The Moscow Times recalled, mobile internet was also out of service in central Moscow for more than two weeks in March. At that time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained this as a necessity to ensure security.
According to "Kommersant", the losses from those outages amounted to nearly 1 billion rubles per day.
Russian officials have also explained previous internet restrictions as measures against Ukrainian drone attacks. During the October 23 attack, operations at four airports around Moscow were temporarily suspended.