Russia has broken the world record for the number of internet shutdowns, a measure authorities say is aimed at countering Ukrainian drone attacks. In June alone, Russian users experienced 655 blackouts, affecting millions, according to the Na Svyazi project. For comparison, there were only 296 such incidents worldwide in all of 2024.

The number of shutdowns spiked after Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb on June 1, which hit Russian military airfields with drones. Meduza, an exiled online news site, compiled a map of the most-affected regions. It shows that even remote areas like Omsk, over a thousand miles away from the Ukrainian border, faced as many as 20 internet shutdowns in a single month.

The threat of drone attacks also caused chaos at Russian airports on June 5-7. More than 2,000 flights were delayed or canceled, 43,000 tickets were refunded and another 94,000 passengers were accommodated in hotels, the Federal Air Transport Agency wrote on Telegram. Experts told the Kommersant daily the disruption may have cost airlines up to RUB 20 billion (over $255 million).

The blackouts are battering Russian businesses, Alexei Lukatsky, a cybersecurity consultant at the information security research company Positive Technologies, told Kommersant.

“If we use, for example, mobile internet for payment terminals, then now we must either connect to Wi-Fi as a backup channel or make Wi-Fi the main connection channel,” Lukatsky noted.

In 2023, the Russian economy lost an estimated $4 billion due to intentional website blocks and internet blackouts, according to the international VPN review site Top10VPN. This year, shutdowns are even more frequent.

One of the most affected sectors is transportation. Ordering a taxi and paying for it by card is a challenge during blackouts as bank terminals stop working. In regions where blackouts are more common, taxi prices have soared.

“The clearest example is various consumer services that rely on mobile internet,” BBC Russian service economy editor Olga Shamina commented. “This is food and grocery delivery, car sharing, scooter rentals and taxi services. When there is no internet, users cannot place orders or, for example, book a car.”

According to 161.ru, a local news site from Rostov Region, on the Ukrainian border, this is because ride-hailing apps can only see drivers connected to Wi-Fi.

“Thus, 100 people are ordering a taxi, but only 10 cars are online,” 161.ru explains. “That’s it, demand creates supply, and prices skyrocket. Those who do not mind paying RUB 1,000 get a ride.” (Normally a ride across town in Rostov is about RUB 200-300.)

In response, local prosecutors said they would investigate whether the fare hikes are justified.

Roman Busargin, governor of Saratov Region, another leader in June’s shutdown count, ordered an expansion of free public Wi-Fi zones.

“We need to cover as many areas as possible, increasing access to wired internet, which is not subject to restrictions,” he wrote on Telegram. “At the same time, for residents’ convenience, a map of existing internet access points in Engels and Saratov will be created and published.”

St Petersburg also saw widespread internet blackouts during the International Economic Forum in June, where Russian government and foreign leaders assembled. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov attributed the disruptions to war-related security concerns.

“We know who we are dealing with: a regime that derails civilian trains carrying civilians,” Peskov said, likely alluding to two deadly incidents involving collapsed railroad bridges in Bryansk and Kursk in early June.

Drone activity has also distorted GPS services. In Moscow, some residents report that their phones show them as being located at Sheremetyevo Airport while they are in fact elsewhere, according to the Telegram tabloid Baza.

Airports are often affected “because drone models with factory settings have airports preloaded as no-fly zones,” noted Dmitri Datsykov, CEO of ExpoUAV, a drone firm, in a comment to Baza. “If a drone detects it’s flying over such a zone, it goes into a forced landing.”

Mass internet shutdowns were reported in May, just before the Victory Day parade, which was preceded by a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks. At the time, Margarita Simonyan, a top Kremlin propagandist who heads RT, downplayed the scope of the shutdowns: “regarding the fact that several stores/restaurants are closed in the center of Moscow for the holidays, the internet is glitchy and you cannot order syrniki or a taxi. No big deal, fellow citizens. We will live like in Paris for a couple of days!”