Russia to Impose 24-Hour Mobile Internet Ban to Prevent Drone Attacks

Russian authorities are preparing to introduce new regulations that will mandate the disconnection of mobile internet and SMS services for a 24-hour period for subscribers who either utilized international roaming or whose SIM cards have been inactive for more than 72 hours.

This was reported by Mediazona on November 7, citing Kommersant.

This new service provision protocol is expected to be implemented imminently. The goal, as stated by sources familiar with the matter, is to combat the use of “ownerless” SIM cards which are reportedly being exploited to facilitate drone attacks.

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To minimize the service disruption, affected subscribers will be offered a verification procedure involving following an SMS link and entering a captcha, which will immediately restore connectivity.

This measure follows the prior introduction of a similar “cooling-off period” restriction applied to foreign SIM cards, which was also officially justified as a countermeasure against the use of cellular communications by unmanned aerial vehicles.

Previously, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has formally instructed his government to draft and propose new restrictions on software originating from countries designated as “unfriendly.”

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This action follows a late May meeting with business representatives, where Putin emphasized the strategic necessity of reducing national reliance on foreign technology platforms such as Microsoft and Zoom. The official justification provided was that these platforms impede the development and growth of Russia's domestic IT sector.

Following the issuance of the directive, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Anton Gorelkin, suggested potential implications for foreign services. Gorelkin warned that WhatsApp—a service owned by Meta, which is formally designated as an extremist organization in Russia—may face an imminent ban.

Earlier, Russian authorities issued a warning regarding potential restrictions on the use of Google Meet, citing concerns that specific software applications possess the capability to monitor Russian citizens and transmit data to Western intelligence agencies.

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