the internet in the regions is turned off for setting up air defense

4G Internet in Russian regions is turned off for the needs of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. “Kommersant” writes about this with reference to sources in telecommunications operators.

Earlier, the authorities of Pskov, Novgorod, and Leningrad regions announced that from January 25 to January 30, 4G (LTE) mobile internet will not work in the regions at night. The same is happening in other subjects, as the work is “planned at the federal level”, but “the pace may differ due to technical aspects”, Kommersant writes.

According to the official version, the outages are related to technical work on the adjustment of the radio frequency spectrum. “Kommersant” interlocutors at three major Russian telecommunications operators say that the Internet is limited at the request of the authorities, and their equipment works correctly and does not need to be shut down.

According to one of them, the high-speed Internet had to be turned off in order to “adjust the equipment of the law enforcement agencies for anti-drone and anti-aircraft defense.” In the case of north-western regions, increased security could be needed due to the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to St. Petersburg on January 26.

The publication of RBC, with reference to its sources, also writes that the night shutdowns are connected with “the visit of high-ranking persons.” By them, the interlocutors mean Putin and Lukashenko.

Interlocutors of “Kommersant” say that subscribers complain about malfunctions in the Internet, and experts note that there are other problems. For example, outages can interrupt the work of corporate networks, video surveillance systems, ATMs, other devices and applications that require a broadband connection to work.

The company that develops drones told Kommersant that “anti-drone complexes can work in the same range as the operators’ equipment.” “But if they work indiscriminately, there will be interference in the transmission of mobile data,” the interlocutor clarified.

• After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, combat drones regularly arrive in Russian regions. There is destruction and victims. The Ministry of Defense of Russia claims that the attacks are being carried out from the Ukrainian side. In most cases, Kyiv does not comment on these messages.