Russia's region breaks record, achieving mobile internet coverage for over six hours.
In an unexpected turn of events, residents of Krasnodar, Russia, experienced a mass mobile internet outage on August 8, 2021. The editor-in-chief of Yuga.ru, Maria Zhuravleva, was among those affected, finding herself unable to pay for a coffee order or call a taxi.
The outage affected all major mobile internet providers in Krasnodar, causing inconvenience to users who found Wi-Fi to be non-functional. This disruption in connectivity made everyday tasks such as calling a taxi, paying in stores and pharmacies, difficult.
The cause of this outage is not explicitly stated, but it appears to be related to or a consequence of the Ukrainian drone attacks on the Krasnodar region and Sochi area on the same day. The activation of air defenses and heightened security measures, including coordination by a city crisis center, led to emergency responses such as evacuations and high alert status for transportation hubs. These events plausibly disrupted critical infrastructure including mobile networks.
On August 8, the Krasnodar region had the most complaints about the absence of internet among all regions in Russia, according to "Sboi.ru". The drone threat also led to the temporary closure of airports in Gelendzhik and Sochi, sirens sounding in several districts, evacuation of tourists from beaches, and placement of people in shelters. In Sochi, the border with Abkhazia was closed due to the drone threat in the Krasnodar region.
Although there is extensive documentation of Russia’s internet censorship and filtering methods, there is no direct mention of censorship causing the mass mobile outages on this specific date. The Krasnodar Airport remained closed for flight safety on the same day, further indicating a security-related shutdown of infrastructure in the region.
Russian authorities earlier promised to ensure residents' access to taxis, delivery services, and marketplaces during connection blockages, and to reduce outages. However, the duration of the outage beyond the day it occurred is not specified. The aftermath of the drone threat, including its duration, was also not provided in the article.
Despite no direct official statement confirming the reason for the mobile internet outages, the correlation with the drone attacks and emergency measures strongly supports the explanation that the outages were caused by security measures and disruptions stemming from the drone attacks and associated defensive actions in Krasnodar.
- The unexpected mass mobile internet outage in Krasnodar, Russia, on August 8, 2021, might have been a consequence of the security measures implemented due to the Ukrainian drone attacks, thereby disrupting technology services.
- The disruption in mobile networks in Krasnodar could be attributed to the emergency responses such as air defense activation, heightened security measures, and coordination by a city crisis center, which were initiated following the drone attacks on August 8, 2021, potentially affecting technology.
