Internet service has been down in St. Petersburg for three days due to drone attacks
Residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region have been experiencing widespread mobile internet outages for the third day in a row. Despite officials’ claims that there was only a “slowdown” during the drone attacks, service has not been restored even after the air threat was lifted.
Mass complaints from users are confirmed by data from the Downdetector service.
Over the past 24 hours, approximately 16,000 reports have been recorded from St. Petersburg and over 2,300 from the Leningrad Region.
Local residents report that mobile internet has effectively been unavailable for several days. This is causing serious difficulties with accessing online services, banking apps, and even basic communication.
“Thank you, beloved government, for three days without work, without the ability to pay loans, and a child without extracurricular activities. We bow low,” wrote one user.
According to residents, websites and apps—including Sberbank—are not loading, and there are also disruptions in mobile connectivity.
The connectivity issues coincided with an increase in drone attacks in the region. Since March 22, the Leningrad Oblast has regularly reported repelling UAV strikes. Against this backdrop, authorities are warning of a “possible slowdown” in internet speeds.
On the night of March 26, 21 drones were shot down over the region. According to local authorities, damage was recorded in the industrial zone of the Kirishsky District. According to local residents, the “Kinef” oil refinery may have been hit.
Despite the lifting of the air threat, communication issues in the region remain.
Russian authorities explain such restrictions as necessary for “security.” Meanwhile, in the State Duma, such outages are already being called the “new normal,” and citizens are advised to use cash and wired internet.
In addition, a large-scale mobile network outage has been reported in the Belgorod region. On March 18, authorities resorted to a complete shutdown of mobile internet for the first time.
Earlier, the authorities in St. Petersburg officially announced restrictions on mobile internet access, citing security measures as the reason.
Internet access was lost in the building of the Russian State Duma amid widespread network restrictions in Moscow.
