Since May 2025, russia has rolled out extensive cellular (mobile) internet blackouts across its territory. 654 outages were recorded in June alone, nearly ten times the number recorded in May. These outages impacted coverage for over half the country. The russian government has formally stated that the blackouts are intended to block Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems reliant on cellular signals, but independent reports suggest the goal is tighter control over online information, UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Fixed line (wired) internet slowdowns are rising too, with russian Roskomnadzor censorship agency allegedly testing full blackouts and throttling access to platforms like YouTube.
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence Reveals Three Operational Structures Behind russia’s Global Destabilization Efforts
The Medusa Project, a group of exiled russian journalists based in Latvia, documented 20-21 day internet shutdowns in regions including Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Omsk, Tula, and Rostov-on-Don. Disruptions to ATMs, digital payments, and public safety alerts have reportedly taken place as a result.
At least one period of outages reportedly coincided with a wave of Ukrainian UAV strikes, during which russia claimed to have downed over 200 Ukrainian UAVs nationwide.
As Defense Express previously reported, russia is escalating its global campaign to subvert its adversaries and increase russian influence. Whilst russian Main Intelligence Directorate is at the forefront of these efforts, russia has also turned to an increasing variety of non-state actors to conduct a full spectrum of overt to covert activities, including espionage, assassination, sabotage, and electronic, cyber and information operations.
Defense Express also reported that russia is planning to remove the Ukrainian language from the school curriculum it imposes in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, according to open-source reports citing a draft russian Ministry of Education order. The Ministry reportedly explains the exclusion, expected to take effect from September 2025, as resulting from the "changed geopolitical situation".
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence: russia's Ministry of Education Proposes Dropping Ukrainian as a Subject Starting in the 2025
