Paranoid Vladimir Putin has forced Moscow back to the Stone Age, blacking out the internet and leaving desperate locals clinging to retro technology.
The Russian tyrant has reportedly “switched off” the web, leaving people unable to message loved ones, navigate streets, or even pay for their morning coffee.
The draconian move comes after Putin pushed through laws allowing the Kremlin to paralyse mobile networks, broadband and landlines at will.
With Wi-Fi and mobile data dead for over a week, Muscovites are turning to old school methods to stay connected. According to Russia’s retail giant Wildberries, sales of pagers have skyrocketed by 73 per cent.
Walkie-talkie and landline sales have also jumped by more than 25 per cent, paper city maps and Moscow guides have tripled in popularity and taxi drivers are hiking prices as app-based competition like Uber vanishes.
Industry insiders confirmed to Kommersant that authorities ordered operators to kill mobile signals.
The economic fallout is staggering, with experts estimating daily losses of up to one billion roubles (£9.4million).
While the public struggles, the Kremlin has offered a “white list” of state-approved propaganda sites, ensuring residents can still access government-controlled news and the state-owned MAX messenger.
Putin’s mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov, claimed the outage was necessary for “security.” He argued that Ukraine‘s “increasingly sophisticated attack methods” required “more technologically advanced countermeasures” to protect the city.
However, the shadowy Russian channel VChK-OGPU, which has links to the secret services, rubbished the claim, noting: “There have been no serious drone attacks on Moscow these days.”
The real reason for the digital iron curtain may be far more explosive. Rumours are circulating that the blackout is a desperate attempt to foil a military coup led by Putin’s former right-hand man, Sergei Shoigu.
The senior security official hasn’t been seen since the blackout began on March 5. Tensions have reached a breaking point following a “purge” of Shoigu’s inner circle, including his ex-deputy Ruslan Tsalikov.
VChK-OGPU reported that “the Kremlin fears a coup attempt by Sergei Shoigu’s clan,”, suggesting the internet kill-switch was timed to coincide with an investigation into Shoigu himself.
The channel’s source added: “The attempt to send Tsalikov… to Lefortovo [prison] was accompanied by some kind of insane struggle at the top. The next one after Tsalikov could only be Shoigu himself.”
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