Russia leads in offering mobile internet coverage for over six hours in a region.
In the heart of Russia, residents in Krasnodar faced a disruption in their daily routines on August 8, 2021, as a mass mobile internet outage swept across the region. This event, which started around 11:00, affected all major mobile internet providers, causing near-complete connectivity loss for many, including editor-in-chief of Yuga.ru, Maria Zhuravleva.
The outage disrupted various activities, with residents finding it challenging to pay for goods and services, call taxis, or even use Wi-Fi. For instance, Zhuravleva was unable to pay for a coffee order or call a taxi due to the mobile internet outage. Similarly, residents of Yuga.ru faced similar difficulties in their daily lives.
The cause of this outage in Krasnodar is not specified in the available reports. However, considering the context of internet and mobile internet disruptions in Russia, it is possible that these outages were related to state-imposed internet control measures, such as DPI-based traffic filtering or throttling, part of Russia's broader strategy of internet censorship intensified in 2021.
Prior to August 8, there were reports suggesting a planned mobile internet shutdown in the Krasnodar region, starting from August 1. However, there is no direct evidence linking this planned shutdown to the outage that occurred on August 8.
Interestingly, on the same day, sirens sounded in the Krymsky district, Anapa, and Sirius. Initially, the operational headquarters denied this report, calling it a fake. Meanwhile, tourists were evacuated from beaches in Sochi, hotels placed people in shelters, and Abkhazia closed its border with Russia due to a drone threat.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Krasnodar residents have experienced mass mobile internet outages. On August 8, there were 1157 complaints about the absence of internet from different operators in the Krasnodar region. The region had the most complaints about the absence of internet over the last 3 hours, according to "Sboi.rf".
Russian authorities had earlier promised to allow residents access to taxis, delivery services, and marketplaces during connection blockages, and to reduce outages at the beginning of August. However, as of the time of publication, Zhuravleva's mobile internet had not been restored.
The article does not provide any details on how or why mobile internet is massively shut down in Russia or whether the mobile internet outage in Krasnodar is related to the planned shutdown in Crimea. Additionally, there is no specific information in the search results directly explaining why there were mass mobile internet outages in Krasnodar on August 8, 2021.
In July, mobile internet was shut down 2099 times across Russia. While the search results do not mention Krasnodar's August 8, 2021 outages explicitly, it is possible that these outages were related to such expanded DPI usage or other state-imposed network restrictions or technical issues related to political or security measures, as Russia often controls internet access in regions during sensitive periods or incidents.
Technology played a significant role in the disruptions faced by residents in Krasnodar, as the mass mobile internet outage that occurred on August 8, 2021, made it difficult for people to carry out normal activities such as paying for goods and services or hailing taxis. The editor-in-chief of Yuga.ru, Maria Zhuravleva, was among those affected, finding it impossible to pay for a coffee order or call a taxi due to the outage.
The popularity of technology in modern life was evident in Krasnodar, where many residents relied heavily on mobile internet for their daily needs. The near-complete connectivity loss caused by the outage highlighted the vulnerability of such dependency on technology and the potential challenges that could arise when it is disrupted.
