Russian Federation Holds Internet Exercises to Ensure Sustainable, Safe and Integral Functioning

Last week, the Russian Federation held exercises to ensure the sustainable, safe and integral functioning of the Internet. During the exercises, the international Internet was “turned off”, however, it was only on mobile networks in the Central Federal District.
According to the representative of Roskomnadzor, the exercises were successful, although the authorities rarely disclose the detailed results of such exercises.

Mobile Operators Notified in Advance

Forbes reported that, citing its own source in one of the mobile operators, Roskomnadzor notified the operators in advance about the upcoming exercises. The events were held only in the Central Federal District (from 3:00 to 5:00 in the morning) and only on mobile communication networks.
“The time was chosen with the least activity of subscribers, there were complaints from subscribers, but there were few of them,” the source said.
Representatives of MTS, VimpelCom, Rostelecom, Tele2 and the Ministry of Digital Transformation declined official comments, while Megafon and Roskomnadzor did not respond to journalists’ requests.

Exercises Lasted 40 Minutes

The executive director of the Society for the Protection of the Internet, Mikhail Klimarev (recognized as a foreign agent), told reporters that anomalies during the exercises occurred with subscribers of Rostelecom and Tele2 in Moscow and the Moscow Region, and the exercises themselves were not like blocking individual resources, but turning off from the world of the Russian segment of the Internet.
According to Klimarev, there were no such incidents before. Moreover, in his opinion, the exercises were unsuccessful and lasted about 40 minutes instead of the planned two hours.
Forbes noted that after the exercise, users of various VPN services began to complain about problems. It is emphasized that the employees of the publication themselves also encountered failures.