Ulyanovsk Region: First-Ever Permanent Mobile Internet Shutdown Amid Ongoing Military Operations

Access to mobile internet will be limited in certain areas of the central Ulyanovsk region for the duration of Russia’s ongoing «special military operation» in Ukraine, regional officials announced on Tuesday. This represents the country’s first long-term mobile internet blackout.

The disruption, which started in early November, was mandated by federal authorities and affects regions surrounding key government and military sites, as reported by local media. The Kremlin has yet to comment on this enduring mobile internet outage.

The internet restrictions in Ulyanovsk also extend to various residential neighborhoods, government offices, and public facilities; however, specifics about the affected zones have not been disclosed publicly due to security concerns.

“The decision was made to enhance security perimeters around certain locations. These restrictions will remain in place until federal authorities decide otherwise,” stated Oleg Yagfarov, the Ulyanovsk region’s Minister of Digital Development, to reporters.

Local officials indicated they lack the power to rescind the restrictions or mandate mobile operators to compensate customers for the service interruptions.

Residents of Ulyanovsk have reported that even some services on a so-called «white list» of approved applications have encountered issues, according to the investigative news organization IStories.

This white list features government service portal Gosuslugi, Russian tech company Yandex, social networks Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki, online retailers Ozon and Wildberries, as well as the Mir payment system.

Regional officials have expressed anticipation that the Ministry of Digital Development will activate the white list «in the near future» and are collaborating with service providers to restore functionality for applications related to banking, educational electronic records, and local pharmacy websites.

Authorities have advised residents to utilize wired internet options, highlighting that there are over 450 free WiFi hotspots in the area and that providers have ramped up staff to assist with new installations.

Regular internet disruptions across Russia began in early May, coinciding with a rise in Ukrainian drone activity, and have now spread to most regions, including Siberia and the Far East. Officials claim these measures are intended to prevent drone strikes.