Vladimir Putin Orders Internet Blackout in Moscow to Counter Ukrainian Drone Attacks

Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow were the most muted in decades, with no military hardware rolling across Red Square and with the internet blacked out across the Russian capital.

“Is the tide starting to turn against Putin in Ukraine”

ABC News

The Washington Post reported that the internet shutdown was driven by fear that Ukraine could disrupt the World War II commemoration with its expanding reach of long-range drone attacks, and it described the deflated mood in Moscow as tied to “two sources of risk to people — drones in the sky and police on the ground — and with all communications banned.”

ABC News

In Moscow and other major Russian cities, Franceinfo said access to the internet was cut for six days, and it quoted Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, saying the blockages aimed to counter Ukrainian drones that use mobile Internet networks.

Franceinfo also said a decree signed by Vladimir Putin allows the FSB to cut Internet at any time, and it described the Russian digital space as “increasingly isolated and controlled.”

In a news conference after the May 9 Victory Day parade, Putin made an unusual remark that analysts and reporting framed as exhaustion rather than peace, saying, “I believe the matter is coming to a close.”

The Washington Post reported that Putin immediately followed up with accusations against “global Western elite,” saying it is using Ukraine to destroy Russia, and it said Top Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov later stated negotiations would be fruitless until Kyiv agreed to a complete Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas.

franceinfo

ABC News connected the Kremlin’s vulnerability to battlefield and domestic pressures, describing how Russia’s annual Victory Day parade on Red Square had, for the first time in two decades, proceeded without hundreds of tanks and military vehicles after the Kremlin acknowledged fears it could not protect them from Ukrainian attacks.

ABC News also said Ukrainian drones and domestically-produced cruise missiles now hit deep inside Russia most weeks, and it described Russians watching the port of Tuapse engulfed in thick, choking smoke after a major refinery there was struck repeatedly.

ABC News said the internet restrictions have severely disrupted businesses and caused widespread anger and irritation, illustrating the backlash with a viral Instagram post by Victoria Bonya that addressed Putin directly.

“Democracy Dies in Darkness By Mary Ilyushina A lone police officer with a megaphone shouted at a confused crowd in central Moscow to disperse — the traditional Victory Day fireworks last weekend having been canceled without warning”

The Washington Post

In that post, Bonya told Putin, “The people are afraid of you, bloggers are afraid of you, performers are afraid of you,” and she added that there is a “thick wall” between him and ordinary people.

The Washington Post reported that Russians are angry over the internet restrictions, inflation and rising taxes, and it described the war’s psychological weight as the conflict crossed the 1,418-day mark in January.

The Washington Post also quoted Andrei Kolesnikov asking, “Why was [this war] necessary if the capital, always festive in the past, seemed empty and uneasy, tense and unsafe,” and it said Putin’s remark appeared geared to domestic audiences amid mounting societal pressure.