Residents of the North Caucasus Federal District spoke about the impact of mobile internet restrictions on everyday life.

Mobile internet restrictions have forced people to carry cash and significantly slowed businesses, according to respondents in the North Caucasus Federal District. They reported problems with in-store and online purchases, calling taxis, and searching for information.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," the active slowdown of Telegram in recent days has created significant inconvenience for users of the messenger in the republics of the North Caucasus. People have lost an accessible way to communicate with relatives, and entrepreneurs have lost established connections with clients and are suffering losses.

"Caucasian Knot" surveyed 16 residents of the North Caucasus Federal District (Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, and Stavropol Krai) to determine how the slowdown in mobile internet has affected them. The survey is not representative and reflects only the personal opinions of those surveyed.

The most inconvenience is when you shop but can't pay with cash.

"Since Monday, mobile internet has been regularly shut down in Makhachkala, usually at night or during a drone threat. They allegedly shut down when there's a threat of attack. Connection is completely lost, even instant messaging apps won't load text messages, which is very annoying, especially when you're working. "The biggest inconvenience is when you're shopping and can't pay with cash. Now I have cash," Madina, a resident of Dagestan and a legal assistant, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. She discovered by accident that there's a so-called "white list," a list of services accessible even with internet restrictions. She learned about this when she noticed that only Gosuslugi and the administration's website were open during a general outage. But why would I need these services? This is clearly not enough, since it is impossible to check news on other channels or contact family via WhatsApp*, for example,” she said.

During restrictions, the app simply freezes, the customer’s address is not visible, and payment via the terminal is impossible.

Magomed works in the delivery industry, and the slowdown in mobile internet has also slowed their work.

“I work in delivery in Makhachkala, and internet outages are hell for us. For a week now, during restrictions, the app simply freezes, the customer’s address is not visible, and payment via the terminal is impossible. We were told that Yandex, Ozon, and Wildberries are on the “white list,” and they do open sometimes. But it's no use if the card doesn't load in the app," he complained.

Rasul lives in Derbent, where mobile internet also slows down.

"The phone freezes without any warning. You're just driving and suddenly the network shows LTE, but nothing loads except VKontakte and some unnecessary sites. I tried to access the banking app, but it worked intermittently. When these slowdowns kick in, my phone turns into a brick," he said.

In Kaspiysk, the problems are similar, said Islam, a delivery manager at a hardware store.

"Yesterday, they were apparently testing the slowdown system, and I got caught right during a work call. The speed dropped so much that the call crashed. We all had a VPN, but it didn't help. In everyday life, I can get by without a connection, but during work, it's impossible," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "white list" includes sites that cannot ensure the full functioning of a business.

According to him, a business cannot operate on five sites.

"The "white list" includes sites that cannot ensure the full functioning of a business. If these are the only sites on it, it's a disaster," he noted.

Patimat, a third-year student at Dagestan State University, bypasses website blocks and internet slowdowns using special services.

"There are many free and paid VPN services that bypass blocking effectively. I use a paid one and am very happy with it. I can't say that all websites work as before, but at least they work. Anyone who needs to will find a way to bypass the restrictions. And I didn't even look at the whitelists; there was no need," she said.  

Grozny resident Abubakar bypasses blocking and slowdowns using a VPN.  

"I have T2, and the VPN bypasses whitelists perfectly. I work as a courier, and it's impossible to go to work if you're unlucky and there are slowdowns. But if you do a little digging online, you'll figure out how to get around them. I calculated that I need to spend about 1% of my income on work comfort. "It's tolerable," he told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

"In Chechnya, we've become accustomed to mobile internet intermittently, but the last time the restrictions were particularly severe. Personally, I encountered a situation where the LTE network was visible on my phone, but not a single foreign service or messenger would load. Only official government portals from the 'white list' reliably opened. I don't have a VPN yet, but I'll have to install one," said another Grozny resident, Aslan.

Life in the city literally comes to a standstill, especially for those dependent on online commerce.

The restrictions haven't bypassed Ingushetia.

"When mobile internet is restricted in Ingushetia, life in the city literally comes to a standstill, especially for those dependent on online commerce. I couldn't access my banking apps or check for incoming payments from clients. Supposedly, the banks were on this "white list," but payments weren't going through. Only Gosuslugi, the post office, and a couple of federal marketplaces like Wildberries worked. But even on approved sites, product photos weren't loading, making work impossible. This creates huge difficulties for small businesses, which are already operating in difficult conditions," said Nazran resident Magomed. Another Nazran resident was prepared for slowdowns. "We didn't start checking this yesterday. Several months ago, there were already some training restrictions. Back then, it was clear we needed to prepare. That's when they started banning VPN advertising. I realized I needed to install one and use it. "I need mobile internet to stay in touch with my children and parents, and this service does a good job of that," said Ruslan.

Vladikavkaz resident Zaur had to catch a taxi instead of calling it for the first time.

"During the latest network maintenance in Vladikavkaz, mobile internet became a bottleneck for only select websites. I personally couldn't send work files via cloud services because my provider completely blocked access. I'm a photographer; I just finished a shoot, selected 10 photos, and wanted to send them to the studio for processing, but I couldn't. I tried to call a taxi to go to the studio, but that didn't work out again. “And for the first time in my life, I had to hail a taxi,” he told a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

In Nalchik, mobile internet also stopped working properly, said student Amina.

“For me as a student, mobile internet restrictions have become a real problem. Our entire preparation is based on the fact that we use various sites and applications that are not on the ‘white list.’ I couldn’t access specialized forums that are necessary for writing my coursework. Even Google search worked intermittently, forcing me to switch to domestic search engines, where there was very little information on my topic. I’ll have to go back to the library,” she jokes.

In the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, mobile internet disappeared at night for several days in a row.

“In Karachay-Cherkessia, I encountered a situation where mobile internet was completely disconnected at night for several days in a row. When the network was turned on in restricted mode, only a few Russian resources worked. Personally, I tried "I could only use VK, where a couple of my friends were online, and Odnoklassniki, where I wasn't at all, to contact my relatives using this 'white list.' Now I'll have to. WhatsApp* and Telegram have been blocked. It feels like we're being forcibly transferred to platforms that we hardly use in everyday life," said Cherkessk resident Beslan.

The slowdown in mobile communications is affecting the tourism industry.

"As a guide, I rely heavily on maps and communication with tourists, but mobile restrictions often ruin all my plans. I found that the internet in the mountains is already weak, and with the introduction of filtering, even online maps stopped loading. The only service I found on the 'white list' was Yandex Maps, which worked somewhat, but without the ability to transmit geolocation. Foreign messengers, where I have my main groups with clients, were 'dead,' and I had to send regular SMS. This is really affecting "It's a bad image for a region where connectivity should be perfect," said Pyatigorsk resident Ruslan.

Now I always carry extra cash with me because I've lost faith in mobile payments.

"In Stavropol, mobile internet is periodically slowed to such a degree that even text messages take several minutes to arrive. I encountered this while paying for purchases at the checkout, when the bank's app simply refused to log in. It turned out that it also doesn't work with a whitelisted bank. Now I always carry extra cash with me because I've lost faith in mobile payments," said city resident Elena.

The restrictions have even affected communications with Belarus, said a Mozdok resident. Eldar.

"I personally experienced the effects of the 'whitelist' system when traffic was temporarily restricted in Ossetia for security reasons. Only sites hosted on Russian servers worked, while everything else simply returned a connection error. I used this restricted list to read news on official websites, but I couldn't contact colleagues in Belarus. This creates significant difficulties for those working remotely," he said.

"In Kislovodsk, mobile internet is also being put into restricted access mode. I encountered a situation where my phone could see the network, but data transfer was only available for apps on the exception list. This list included Rutube and VK Video, which worked fine, but my usual social media sites were blocked. It's strange to hold a phone in your hand but not be able to do things you normally do without problems. "It's elementary - share photos or videos with friends," Kislovodsk resident Artur complained to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.