Earlier this month, we launched Amnezia Pulse, a tool designed to measure internet availability. It focuses on Russia and highlights operational anomalies across:
- The “Big Four” mobile operators — MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, and T2,
- Home internet providers, specifically Rostelecom and Dom.Ru.
We utilize anonymized data regarding the ratio of successful to unsuccessful connections from Amnezia Free and Premium users, recording strictly network availability and excluding service-side outages. The system compares current metrics with “normal network behavior,” calculated based on the last 14 days across regions, operators, and network types in 5-minute intervals, which allows us to quickly identify anomalies and mass restrictions.
We do not collect user actions or personal data — only technical connection parameters
The results of our May observations were influenced by two factors:
- The introduction of “security measures” during the holidays, mirroring last year's approach.
- Drone attacks, which in most cases are accompanied by the shutdown or severe restriction of mobile internet. Meanwhile, home Wi-Fi networks, as a rule, remain unblocked.
However, even within these factors, there were exceptions. For instance, we anticipated widespread connectivity disruptions surrounding the May 9 Victory Day parades, but they occurred only sporadically.
General Trends in May Outages and Restrictions
In April, internet restrictions occurred daily, but they “migrated” from region to region without lingering long in any single area. In May, however, disruptions were frequently prolonged. Major cities, and occasionally entire federal districts, dropped offline simultaneously. Some regions remained in a state of performance drops for several days in a row.
Holiday Blockages
The authorities refined their mobile internet blocking mechanisms during the May holidays in 2025. At that time, restrictions primarily affected Moscow, where the Victory Parade takes place. This year, authorities in dozens of regions preemptively warned residents about potential connectivity restrictions.
In addition to Moscow, the Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, and the Leningrad Oblast, the list included the Krasnodar Krai, Chuvashia, as well as the Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Kirov, and Kaliningrad Oblasts, along with more than 20 other regions. Our monitoring confirmed several instances where promises to restrict mobile internet functionality were put into practice.
More Drone Strikes — More Shutdowns
Wherever a drone hazard regime was introduced, mobile internet was restricted in the majority of cases. Home Wi-Fi networks, with rare exceptions, were not blocked during these times.
In May, our data largely aligned with user complaints on thematic forums, regional media publications, and official government statements. This was not always tied to the introduction of a drone hazard regime.
Top 5 Regions by Restriction Frequency
1st Place — St. Petersburg
The Northern Capital became the leader in the number of incidents over the month. We recorded restrictions on May 2, 3, 5, 7, 13, 17, and 19 — almost every week, and sometimes for several days in a row.
At the peak of the outage, data transfer speeds for certain operators dropped to 30–40% of the norm.
The incidents affected both individual operators and all mobile networks as a whole, but problems were most frequently observed on MegaFon and T2.
2nd Place — Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
The region caught our attention back in April, and May was no exception. Disruptions were recorded on May 3, 4, 5, 13–14, and 18–19.
The period of May 13–14 proved particularly intense. On MegaFon, connection speeds plummeted to 20–27% of the norm — users complained about a complete lack of mobile internet, while flight restrictions were simultaneously introduced at Strigino International Airport (Chkalov).
On Tuesday, May 19, access speeds dropped by 80% — and once again, the data matched residents' complaints in regional media.
3rd Place — Krasnodar Krai
One of the regions with the harshest restrictions during the May holidays. We detected issues on MegaFon and T2 on May 1, and the situation deteriorated from there.
Around May 7–8, the situation approached a critical state. Data transfer speeds on MegaFon fell to 27% of the norm, and on May 8, T2 dropped to a mere 6% of the norm.
One of the few recorded instances of restrictions on a home network was a disruption on the broadband provider Dom.ru on May 12.
4th Place — Smolensk Oblast
The region debuted in first place in April and, despite fierce competition, remained in the top tier for May.
From May 13 to May 16, the region virtually never exited a state of severe restrictions — during certain hours, traffic dropped to zero. The restrictions directly correlated with the drone hazard regime active on May 14–15.
5th Place — Southern Russia
For the purposes of this digest, “Southern Russia” encompasses the Rostov Oblast and the Caucasus — the Krasnodar Krai, the Chechen Republic, Stavropol Krai, and the Republic of North Ossetia — Alania.
In the Rostov Oblast, data transfer speeds on T2 dropped near zero on May 7 and 8, while a drone hazard regime was declared in the region on May 13 and 15 — with corresponding performance drops on MegaFon and T2.
In Chechnya, during the night of May 7, connection speeds across all mobile operators plummeted to minimal values and failed to recover for several days.
In North Ossetia, disruptions occurred in waves starting May 1, with metrics hitting their lowest limits around May 7–8. The Stavropol Krai joined the broader trend on May 7, with T2 dropping to zero values.
Disruptions in the republic were also observed on May 16 across mobile network operators.
The synchronization of events across the Caucasus pointed to uniform regional security measures implemented in connection with UAV attacks and the temporary suspension of operations at 13 airports in Southern Russia.
Which Telecom Operators Implemented Restrictions Most Frequently
MegaFon
Leading the pack since last month. The operator stood out in virtually every major incident of the month, regardless of the region. In some areas, MegaFon alone experienced difficulties, while other telecom operators recorded no anomalies whatsoever.
T2
In a number of cases within a single region, T2 networks were harder to access than those of other operators. Connection speeds took an especially noticeable hit in the Rostov Oblast — reaching virtually zero values on May 7–8 — as well as in Chuvashia, the Stavropol Krai, and St. Petersburg.
MTS
The operator appeared in reports less frequently, but the incidents associated with it were often large in scale. It was MTS that faced the strictest blocking during the May 9 parade in Moscow.
Additionally, on May 28, operational disruptions were recorded for the operator across three regions simultaneously: Bashkortostan, the Samara Oblast, and Moscow. In the latter two, the issues persisted until the end of the month.
Beeline
We note an incident in the Khabarovsk Krai on May 14 — the speed drop exceeded 50% of the norm, whereas performance decreases for other operators remained negligible.
Home Providers
Dom.ru appeared in our field of view only once, and Rostelecom not at all. This maintains the trend from last month: restrictions purposefully target mobile networks. At least for now.
When Internet Disruptions Coincided With Drone Hazards
The connection between the drone hazard regime and internet restrictions in May became undeniable. A list of direct coincidences includes:
Yaroslavl Oblast, May 8
Data transfer speeds on MegaFon dropped simultaneously with the introduction of a drone hazard regime in the region — this is one of the clearest examples of a direct correlation.
Previously, the region was not part of the “disruption zone,” unlike Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Oblast, or the Krasnodar Krai.
Caucasus Regions, May 7–8
Simultaneous restrictions in Chechnya, North Ossetia, and the Stavropol Krai coincided with UAV attacks and the suspension of operations at 13 airports in the southern part of the country, as mentioned above.
Penza Oblast, May 15–16
Restrictions coincided with security measures that local authorities introduced starting May 12, and the declaration of a drone hazard regime on the night of May 16.
Smolensk, Rostov, Voronezh Oblasts, and 15 Other Regions, May 14–15
An overnight attack involving 355 drones — with corresponding traffic drops in all oblasts affected by the raids.
Rostov Oblast, May 13, 15, and 16
Both episodes of restrictions on T2 coincided with the introduction of the drone hazard regime in the region, which was also recorded by regional media.
Restrictions Without Clear Causes
By no means can all incidents be explained by holiday events or drone attacks. A series of episodes left us without any obvious context.
- MegaFon in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Since the beginning of May, we recorded multi-day drops — no similar patterns were noted for other operators. The situation in the same region during April was identical.
- Khabarovsk Krai, May 14–16. Restrictions spanning multiple operators occurred without any public explanation and did not coincide with holidays or any drone attacks known to us.
Widespread Outage on May 20–21
During these days, we recorded an incident across several regions simultaneously:
- St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast,
- The Kirov, Vladimir, Murmansk, Lipetsk, Kaluga, Pskov, and Rostov Oblasts,
- The Krasnodar Krai, the Chechen Republic, and the Republic of Dagestan.
Our readings matched data from other monitoring services, such as Detector404.
The most acute situation unfolded in St. Petersburg, where users were left without mobile internet for three days against the backdrop of SPIEFSaint Petersburg International Economic Forum and the City Day.
Restore Access to Your Favorite Resources and Support the Project
We keep track of blockages implemented by the authorities and incidents within operator networks.
As a reminder: the more users connect to Amnezia Free or Amnezia Premium, the more complete our picture of outages becomes, and the earlier you will learn about future incidents.
7 min
