On Tuesday morning, 5 May, problems with mobile Internet suddenly started in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the centre of Moscow, it simply did not work – and even those services that are usually available during the restrictions were also “down”.
By lunchtime, the authorities explained: the Internet was restricted for security reasons. And added that everything had already been restored. But, according to BBC journalists, such shutdowns may be repeated – including on 7 and 9 May.
The first complaints appeared as early as about eight in the morning – this is evidenced by the data of the service Downdetector. People wrote that the mobile Internet disappeared completely: only Wi-Fi worked. In some cases, even SMS could not be sent.
RBC journalists also reported about the failures: customers of different operators had problems: MTS, T2, Beeline and Yota.
Political analyst Mikhail Vinogradov described the situation as follows: “The centre of Moscow. Mobile internet does not work. Not even the white lists. At night everything was still working.”
The so-called “white lists” are important services: government services, taxis, online shops, banks. Usually they are not switched off even in case of restrictions, but this time they did not open either.
The day before, operators warned: from 5 to 9 May there may be disruptions due to preparations for the holidays. They advised to use Wi-Fi, and for calls – to switch on VoLTE function in the phone settings.
Not only operators, but also banks warned about possible communication problems. In particular, customers of T-Bank and Sberbank received messages. They directly wrote: there may be interruptions due to “security during holidays”, so it is better to use Wi-Fi.
And it was immediately felt. People in Moscow wrote in the morning that they couldn’t call a taxi, order food or take a car in a carshare. Some even failed to get their salaries, simply because the connection did not work.
There was a similar situation in St. Petersburg. As local media wrote, “the city woke up, but mobile internet – not”. There they also warned about problems with card payments, ATMs and even SMS from the bank.
This scenario was talked about even earlier. Sources in telecom said: before the parade on 9 May, restrictions may be tightened. According to them, on certain days – 5, 7 and 9 May – not only the Internet, but all mobile communications, including SMS, may be “jammed”. And not only in the centre, but almost all over Moscow.
The explanation is standard – security. The authorities say that it is necessary, in particular, to complicate the work of drones and reduce the risk of attacks.
After a few hours, everything was partially returned. There were fewer complaints, and communications began to appear.
But this is not the first time for Moscow. In early March, the internet in the centre disappeared for almost three weeks. Even basic things did not work: navigation or payment. Then it was suddenly switched back on without explanation.
The 9 May parade and the ceasefire in Ukraine
This year’s parade in Moscow decided to hold a more modest. The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that there will be no column of military equipment on Red Square on May 9 – for the first time since 2007.
The Kremlin explained it this way: there are security risks, so the format was “cut down”. Another reason is that the date is not an anniversary, 81 years from the end of World War II.
Then, on 29 April, there was a conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States. After it, Donald Trump said he offered Vladimir Putin to make a “small truce” for 9 May.
And already on 4 May, the Russian Defence Ministry announced its own “truce” – for 8 and 9 May. At the same time, a threat was made: if the Ukrainians try to disrupt the celebrations, they may strike the centre of Kiev.
In response, Vladimir Zelensky said: Ukraine has not received a clear plan from Russia, but it is ready to cease fire earlier – already from the night of 5 to 6 May. And further to act “mirror-like”, that is, to respond in the same way as the other side will act.
The Ukrainian leader also added: “It is time for Russian leaders to take real steps to end their war, if already the Russian defence ministry believes that it will not hold a parade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”