Russia Blocks Mobile Internet for Foreign SIMs — The Digital Iron Curtain Tightens

Russia has moved to restrict mobile internet access for all foreign SIM cards entering its borders — a policy framed as an anti-drone measure but widely viewed as another escalation in the Kremlin’s long campaign to isolate and control the digital space.

According to regional telecom regulators and operators in Belarus and Kazakhstan, travelers crossing into Russia with foreign SIMs now face an automatic 24-hour mobile data blackout. During this window, roaming services, SMS verification codes, and internet access are completely disabled. The restriction automatically resets every time a user crosses a regional boundary or switches carriers, meaning that connectivity may remain unstable for days at a time, effectively limiting communication across the country.

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development has not officially acknowledged the order, but internal policy drafts reviewed by telecom watchdogs suggest the measure stems from a “cooling-off period” protocol proposed in August. The policy’s stated intent: to prevent foreign-controlled drones from using mobile data networks to coordinate or transmit video while crossing into Russian airspace.

Officials claimed the blackout duration was calculated around the “average flight time of drones crossing the border.” Yet the measure extends far beyond drone defense — it directly impacts foreign nationals, journalists, cross-border businesses, and diplomatic staff, who now face forced disconnection within the first 24 hours of entry.

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An Expanding Architecture of Control

Analysts and digital rights groups argue the drone explanation is a pretext for deeper communications control. Over the past year, Russia has steadily layered new restrictions on mobile data, messaging apps, and encrypted platforms, citing “security concerns” and “counter-fraud operations.”
But the scope and frequency of these disruptions tell another story: one of digital isolation.

Since May, authorities in several Russian regions have initiated rolling blackouts of mobile internet, allegedly to interfere with drone guidance systems used in cross-border strikes. These shutdowns often coincide with domestic protests, industrial unrest, or election periods — a pattern that has not gone unnoticed by human rights monitors.

The latest data from the monitoring group Na Svyazi shows that Russia logged 2,129 internet shutdowns in August alone, the highest number since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The group estimates these restrictions caused $323 million in economic damage across multiple sectors, with cascading effects on logistics, e-commerce, and border trade.

Many of these shutdowns were localized “micro-cuts”, targeting urban centers and industrial zones rather than active conflict areas. Analysts suggest regional governors are using these disconnections to signal loyalty to Moscow by demonstrating proactive measures against drone incursions — even when no credible drone activity exists.

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From Connectivity to Compliance

Obtaining a local Russian SIM card has also become a bureaucratic ordeal. Foreign travelers must now submit to biometric registration, provide a personal insurance number, and verify their identity through the state-controlled Gosuslugi portal, a system closely tied to Russia’s domestic surveillance infrastructure.
What once took minutes now requires a multi-day registration process, often involving banks or government centers, effectively deterring short-term visitors and independent journalists from maintaining connectivity.

Telecom providers within Russia have privately appealed to the government to relax these requirements, warning that the process has become “commercially untenable” for cross-border users and foreign employees.
But officials appear unmoved. According to one internal memo reviewed by regional press, Moscow sees the restrictions not as a temporary countermeasure, but as part of a “long-term communications sovereignty initiative.”

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Legal Gray Zones and Quiet Expansion

Legal experts have pointed out that Russia’s blackout policy has no explicit authorization under current federal law. The Communications Act and Federal Security Statute only allow for suspension of services under martial law, a declared emergency, or by direct order of the FSB — none of which have been publicly invoked.
Instead, these new measures appear to operate through regional decrees and internal telecom orders, creating what analysts call a “shadow layer of governance” — rules enforced without legislative process or oversight.

Digital rights organizations have condemned the move as a step toward institutionalized censorship-by-design, warning that once blackout frameworks are normalized, they can be easily expanded to target specific demographics or dissident groups.

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Collateral Impact: Finance, Travel, and Trust

The practical consequences of the ban are severe. Foreign SIM users — including business travelers, NGO workers, and expats — now risk losing access to critical mobile authentication systems.
Online banking, eSIM activation, and two-factor verification systems all depend on SMS communication, meaning users may be locked out of digital wallets, travel apps, or secure accounts during their first 24 hours in Russia.

The result is a growing digital divide between citizens and outsiders, further isolating Russia’s domestic internet ecosystem from the rest of the world. With messaging services like Telegram and WhatsApp already restricted in many regions, and VPN access under surveillance, the mobile SIM blackout tightens the last link to unrestricted communication.

Telecom analyst Eldar Murtazin summed it up bluntly:

“You can forget about roaming for foreign SIM cards in Russia, at least until the drone situation stabilizes — and it’s impossible to predict when that will happen. There is no precedent for a communications policy this extensive anywhere else in the world.”

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A Digital Curtain in Motion

Russia’s progressive isolation of its digital sphere reflects a broader strategy — one that mirrors its “sovereign internet” initiative launched in 2019. That framework aimed to route all traffic through state-controlled exchange points, enabling the government to disconnect from the global internet if necessary.
The new SIM restrictions mark a further evolution: control over mobility itself — turning every border crossing and region change into a point of surveillance and interruption.

Analysts warn this approach will not only hinder tourism and business but will also accelerate Russia’s internal fragmentation as each region gains discretion over how to interpret and enforce communications laws.
In short, the blackout policy may achieve what no external cyberattack could: the gradual self-isolation of an entire nation’s information grid.

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TRJ VERDICT

What Moscow calls a “temporary security precaution” looks much more like a field test for a national communications lockdown model.
Each step taken in the name of “anti-drone defense” hardens the infrastructure for censorship and citizen control.
This is not about drones — it’s about dominance.

And once a country begins normalizing communication blackouts at its borders, the line between national defense and digital authoritarianism disappears completely.

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