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By Taryn Pedler
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An interactive map tracking Russia’s internet disruptions has recorded 80 incidents across 36 regions in just over a month, as a VPN provider warns of increasingly coordinated shutdowns and more sophisticated attempts to block access.
Amnezia Pulse recorded the incidents between September 15 and October 20, 2026. Krasnodar Krai was the worst-affected region, with nine incidents, followed by Samara Oblast and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, with six each.
Including data collected in April and May, before Amnezia was forced to pause the project following what it described as an attack by Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, the project has recorded disruptions in at least 45 regions—more than half of Russia.
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Amnezia says it has also recently observed a new pattern of synchronized internet shutdowns affecting multiple Russian regions and telecommunications operators at the same time.
For some residents, the restrictions have become so severe they are resorting to unusual workarounds just to stay in touch with family.
“The restrictions have forced me to change my Wi-Fi network name just to communicate with my mom,” Albert, who lives in Russia’s Vologda Oblast, told Newsweek.
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A New Pattern Of Shutdowns
Amnezia highlighted overlapping incidents in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, which it says occurred twice, as well as a synchronized shutdown affecting three operators in St. Petersburg.
“Over the past week, we have recorded a new type of episode: synchronized internet shutdowns in several regions or across several operators at once,” the organization told Newsweek. “This suggests that the state is seeking to centralize internet providers."
Amnezia says mobile internet is most frequently affected, while wired connections often remain available.
Disruptions can last a few hours or continue for two or three days, and sometimes, speeds fall so sharply that videos and audio will not load, leaving only basic text browsing practical.
The organization expects restrictions to spread further to fixed-line internet providers, although it cannot predict when or how extensively that will happen.
The Human Cost Of Losing Connection
For Alex, the difference between Moscow and other parts of Russia is stark.
“I travel to Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Makhachkala, Vladikavkaz, Murom, and Chelyabinsk. Most often, the disruptions happen in cities with a population of under 500,000. In cities with over a million people, the cellular service and internet are more or less fine. However, in places like Murom, the Kuzbass region, and Kaspiysk, the internet operates strictly on 'whitelists' (only pre-approved sites work),” he said.
Even services that are supposed to remain available can become inaccessible, Alex says. He describes disruptions that prevented people from ordering groceries, calling taxis or using navigation.
“There have definitely been moments when mobile internet was shut down almost completely, making it hard to use even the officially approved services. For example, the recent attack on Yandex data centers hit us very hard. You couldn't order groceries, call a taxi, or use the GPS navigator, and alternative services simply aren't on the whitelists,” Alex said.
In some areas, Alex says restrictions are so severe that he has started carrying alternative communications equipment.
“Due to my work, I travel around the country quite often, and I face internet and cell service disruptions constantly. Lately, I've even started carrying a set of two-way radios with me," he said.
"I often work at strategic facilities where only whitelisted internet is available around the perimeter. At some of these sites, the cell towers have been turned off completely. These outages have severely affected our work speed and productivity, but we don't lose heart—we just keep finding new ways to bypass the blocks.”
Albert, who lives in Vologda Oblast in northern Russia, says restrictions can vary even between neighborhoods. In the area where his mother works, he says, mobile internet is practically always blocked, including services that are supposed to remain available.
“The operator in that area is MegaFon. We’ve contacted them, but they simply say they’re following orders from higher authorities and can’t do anything about it. I don’t know exactly when the permanent restrictions started. I also haven’t noticed any obvious military or other sensitive facilities nearby that would explain why this particular area is affected,” he said.
His experience echoes other examples collected by Amnezia, including people renaming Wi-Fi networks and phone hotspots to exchange messages, displaying handwritten notes in front of security cameras and using online map comments to communicate.
Albert says restrictions have become more closely tied to drone alerts since around March or April 2026, although access does not always return when an alert ends.
“That changed around March or April 2026. Now, in my experience, restrictions usually start almost immediately after a drone alert is issued. However, internet access isn’t always restored when the all-clear notification arrives,” he said.
He questions whether security concerns alone explain the differences between Moscow and regional areas.
“What I find particularly striking is the difference between Moscow and other regions. In regional cities, these restrictions have become routine, while similar disruptions in the capital attract much more attention,” he said.
From Blocking Websites To Restricting The Internet
Amnezia says Russia is increasingly combining traditional website blocking with a more restrictive approach known as whitelisting.
Under a blacklist system, authorities block particular websites. A whitelist reverses that approach: only approved websites and services remain accessible, while everything else is restricted.
Amnezia links the expansion of internet filtering to Federal Law 90-FZ, commonly known as the “sovereign internet law,” which required telecommunications operators to install technical means of countering threats, or TSPU. These systems allow Roskomnadzor to analyze and filter internet traffic.
“In a sense, this is a more robust censorship solution: only the parts of the internet where information is subordinate to the state are allowed, and everything else is blocked,” Amnezia said.
The approach can have consequences beyond access to independent news and social media. When only pre-approved services work, users can lose access to tools needed for work, travel, banking and communication.
The Escalating Battle Over VPNs
Virtual private networks, or VPNs, have become an increasingly important way for Russians to access blocked services and the wider internet, but Amnezia says authorities are developing more sophisticated methods to identify and block them.
The organization says Russian filtering systems previously relied more heavily on recognizable characteristics of VPN protocols. They now analyze combinations of signals, including packet sizes, sequences and connection timings, to identify suspicious traffic.
“The system accumulates statistics on connections, singles out servers with high traffic volumes into a separate sample, and looks within them not for one obvious marker but for a combination of indirect signs: packet sizes and sequences, handshake timings, and behavior after the session is established,” the organization said.
Amnezia says connections can be blocked automatically when enough indicators accumulate, with new blocking methods introduced as VPN providers adapt.
Despite these measures, the organization says services can still find ways to operate, although maintaining reliable connections may become more expensive.
Alex says people increasingly have to try multiple services to get around restrictions.
“Over the past year, it has become increasingly difficult to use social networks that are banned in Russia. Many VPN services have simply stopped working. Sometimes you have to cycle through three or four different VPN apps just to connect to the outside internet when you are in a whitelist zone,” he said.
Albert warns that some smaller VPN services carry their own privacy risks, particularly when their operators are unknown, or their traffic passes through Russian servers.
“Some VPNs that bypass the whitelists route traffic through Russian servers. That raises serious privacy concerns, especially when the operator is unknown. There’s no way for an ordinary user to know what happens to their traffic,” he said.
Amnezia says demand for VPNs continues to grow, with users increasingly switching between multiple services depending on which ones work. It says this can drive up costs as people pay for two or three services instead of one.
Alex says he has helped people around him find workarounds, including setting up VPNs on home routers.
“People around me use VPNs constantly. I’ve personally set up VPNs directly on the home routers for many of my acquaintances so that things work normally for them at least at home. As for mobile devices, I have about 300 people registered under my referral link for just one VPN service. And I don't even promote it—the link is just passed around by word-of-mouth,” he said.
Russia's Model—And What Comes Next
Amnezia compares Russia's use of deep packet inspection, which analyzes internet traffic to identify connections, with China's filtering infrastructure. It says Russia's growing use of whitelists resembles restrictions imposed in Iran during internet shutdowns, when access was limited to a small number of mostly state-affiliated services.
North Korea represents a more extreme form of isolation, Amnezia says, because ordinary citizens generally lack access to the global internet in the first place. The organization also says its servers are periodically blocked in Myanmar.
These comparisons reflect Amnezia's assessment, and the technical systems and extent of restrictions differ between countries.
But for Alex, the consequences in Russia are already clear. He says restrictions disrupt professional work, including access to software drivers, international technical documentation and specialist forums. He also warns that cloud-dependent equipment, including fire and security alarm systems, can be affected when connectivity fails.
“As an engineer, I need to download drivers, read international technical documentation, and access professional forums. All these restrictions are essentially building a 'digital Iron Curtain' that hinders our professional development and work,” he said.
The restrictions have even made him consider leaving Russia, he says.
“The government offers various benefits and perks to try and keep IT specialists here, but they simply do not compensate for everything that is happening in the country right now. That is why so many professionals are just fleeing from here,” Alex said.
Amnezia expects further efforts to restrict internet access and block VPNs, although it believes people will continue finding ways around them.
Alex says the growing number of workarounds reflects a continued demand for access to information.
“The fact that millions of people across the country (and hundreds just in my immediate circle) are constantly looking for workarounds, sharing links, and setting up VPNs proves that the demand for truth and a free internet is huge. Society is resisting censorship every single day, we are just doing it on a technical level,” he said.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Emma Lee-Sang
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