Russia Cuts Moscow Mobile Internet Ahead of Victory Day

The Federal Government of Russia disrupted mobile internet and SMS services across Moscow and St. Petersburg starting May 5, 2026, citing security concerns and the risk of Ukrainian drone attacks. The outages affected major operators such as MTS, T2, Beeline, and Yota, hindering digital payments at Sberbank and taxi bookings through Yandex Go. While the Ministry of Digital Development briefly restored access following the initial May 5 outages, it later announced a second round of temporary restrictions for May 9 to secure Victory Day events. These upcoming restrictions include blocking access to government-approved websites on the official white list, though home internet will remain functional.

These security measures follow a Ukrainian drone strike on a Moscow apartment complex on May 4 and a hit on an oil refinery in Kirishi. In response to these threats, the Kremlin scaled back the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square, removing the customary military equipment convoy and cadets for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Critics claim these restrictions are part of a broader effort by President Vladimir Putin to tighten domestic control during the ongoing conflict, while official sources maintain the measures are purely precautionary to protect critical infrastructure.