Internet blackouts in Russia have sparked a conflict between the FSB and the Kremlin — FT
Widespread internet blackouts, as well as restrictions on WhatsApp and Telegram, have sparked a serious conflict between the FSB and Putin’s administration. The Financial Times reports this, citing former high-ranking Kremlin officials.
According to them, after control over the Russian segment of the internet was transferred to the FSB’s Second Directorate, it was the security service that began insisting on increasingly strict restrictions on the internet. At the same time, the presidential administration opposes such measures, fearing a rise in public discontent ahead of the parliamentary elections in September.
One of the publication’s sources stated that a power struggle over control of the internet is effectively underway between the FSB and civilian Kremlin officials.
According to him, the security service is constantly looking for new pretexts for bans, although most of them lack a logical justification. Even Putin, the source claims, was unable to clearly explain the necessity of large-scale internet shutdowns.
Another former official noted that tightening control over the internet has become a new tool for the FSB to combat dissent and uncontrolled communication among citizens. At the same time, he sharply criticized the security service’s competence in the field of digital technologies.
As the FT notes, internet regulation in Russia was previously handled primarily by the presidential administration, the Ministry of Digital Development, and Roskomnadzor. However, according to The Bell, control over the Russian internet was transferred in mid-2025 to the FSB’s Second Directorate—the unit responsible for combating the opposition and the so-called protection of the constitutional order.
Alexandra Prokopenko, an expert at the Carnegie Berlin Center, believes that after the September elections, restrictions on the Russian internet could become even stricter.
Source: Financial Times.
Internet restrictions were imposed in the Moscow regionahead of May 9.
As a reminder, mobile internet has gone down again in St. Petersburg.
