Russian authorities have banned rallies against Internet blockades in at least 22 cities, the channel “Real Time” reported on 26 March.
In particular, the rally in Perm was cancelled two hours before it was scheduled to begin, according to the regional branch of Ekaterina Duntsova’s unregistered Rassvet party. The administration cited a certain “potential emergency situation” at the rally site. Two people, who came to the appointed time with posters against the blockades, were detained and taken to the department.
In particular, the mayor’s office of Vladimir revoked the previously granted approval of the action against the blocking of Internet services, which was planned to be held on 1 April, said Dmitry Kisiev, founder of the movement “Candidates’ Headquarters. The city authorities themselves proposed this date after they banned the rally on 29 March. Then they explained the refusal by “cleaning the territory” at all the sites listed by activists, and the second time they referred to the regular announcements of the danger of drones.
For the same reason demanded the cancellation of demonstrations by the authorities of Murom in the Vladimir region, Krasnodar, Volgograd.
Read also: blocking the Internet in the Russian Federation: residents of the Belgorod region called to “judge” “Roskomnadzor “
In Irkutsk, the authorities cancelled a rally for March 1 with the participation of about 300 people, which was planned by the local branch of the Yabloko party – there “showed significant public attention to the upcoming event.”
Tomsk City Hall refused to allow activists to hold a rally against the blocking of the Telegram messenger, also pointing out that expressing an opinion about the blocking on the Internet could be regarded as dissemination of inaccurate information.
The authorities in Khabarovsk banned the rally on the pretext of repair work in the park, in Voronezh – the threat of terrorism, in Barnaul – non-compliance with the law, in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – the risk of parking in inappropriate places, in Vladivostok – repair work, in Novosibirsk – because of the inspection of trees in the park (15 people were eventually detained there), in Yakutsk – because of the risk that many people might come to the rally.
In five towns in the Moscow region (Krasnogorsk, Dolgoprudny, Khimki, Korolev and Mytishchi), supporters of politician Boris Nadezhdin were refused, explaining the ban by the threat of spreading covida.
In Moscow and St. Petersburg, under the same pretext, the rally of the “Red Swan” movement, which calls on social networks to join the protest on 29 March, was not approved. Today, two students were arrested in the capital for taking part in an “event against Internet blockades on Bolotnaya Square”.
The only city in which the rally had approval was Penza, but on the evening of 26 March the initiators of the action reported that they too had been refused.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation also managed to hold several rallies and pickets against the blockades: in particular, in Penza, Naryan-Mari, Perm and Syktyvkar.
In mid-March, the Russian authorities began a complete blocking of the Telegram messenger. In addition, the Kremlin is testing the work of the Internet using “white lists” – when only those sites that are allowed work. Since 5 March, mobile internet has been working this way in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that switching off mobile internet “is necessary to ensure the safety of citizens as Ukraine uses increasingly sophisticated technological methods for attacks.”
“White lists” of resources available during internet shutdowns have started to be tested since summer 2025. The list of available resources includes websites of mobile operators, pro-Kremlin mass media, government agencies, marketplaces, as well as Russian social networks VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and messenger Max, but they often do not work either, the TV channel Real Time has said.