Russians returning to the country can no longer use their phones 24 hours a day. The measure of the authorities gave birth to conspiracies

Russians returning from abroad will not be able to use their mobile internet for 24 hours. Officially, authorities say they want to counter Ukrainian drones that can connect to Russian mobile networks to locate targets in Russia. But people suspect that the real intention is to control communication between citizens.

“Chilling of SIM cards” – this is the name of the measure that came into force on November 10 and involves the temporary disconnection of the mobile Internet for Russians who have been abroad or have been outside the mobile phone network for more than 72 hours.

The official goal is to counter Ukrainian drones, which are equipped with LTE modems for attacks on the Russian Federation and connect through them to the Russian mobile network, authorities say.

The “cooling off” period of SIM cards “does not cause any inconvenience to citizens”, they announced. The talk about the need for a “cooling off period” for SIM cards for those coming from abroad is “absolutely unfounded,” the president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also said.

Russian citizens, however, have a different opinion. On Vkontakte and Telegram, but also on the forums of Russian publications there are several discussions between users on this topic.

“The mission of the Russian authorities is to create problems for the population”

In the border areas of the Pskov region, residents complained about the blocking of SIM cards, “Pskovskaia Gubernia” writes. Due to these blocks, phones automatically roam on Estonian and Latvian networks. After this, subscribers remain without internet for 24 hours, according to the “cooling off” system introduced by the Ministry of Digitization. Similar complaints have previously come from the Amur region, roaming from China, and from Belgorod, Ukraine's networks, Astra notes.

The “cooling off period” was introduced by Russian officials to “combat drones”. According to this measure, Russian residents will be blocked from accessing mobile internet for 24 hours if they come from other countries.

Naturally, many suspect that it is not necessarily about the Ukrainian drones, but about the authorities' intention to control conversations between citizens.

“Officials now have the opportunity to limit the communication resources of the population”

“Another absurdity! People are being herded without the possibility of communicating with the outside world, and all these scares about attacks are just a pretext.

Competent specialists have already explained that drones do not work through mobile phone networks. But officials of various ranks now have the opportunity to limit the communication resources of the population! The restrictions from the period of COVID, which, by the way, have not even been canceled, will soon seem like child's play!”, wrote the user of the “Vkontakte” network with the name Max.

“Idiocy! If you want, you can integrate any SIM card anywhere, even one that has never been abroad. Russia has fallen under the boot of those who, because of their paranoid phobias towards foreigners, cultivated in them by Soviet life and service in Soviet structures, take such measures against innocent fellow citizens. And everyone is forced to be silent and obey these careerists. That is why the marasmus in Russia is getting worse, and we are becoming all more likely North Koreans!”, Andrei wrote.

“The mission of the Russian authorities is to create problems for the population… Now digitization helps them in this,” wrote the user of the “Vkontakte” network named Ivan.

“Great, you arrived home, at the airport, you want to write to your loved ones that you are fine, and your home country disables your phone for a whole day”, wrote an anonymous user in the comments on the Sank Peterburg news portal, “Fontanka.ru”.

“So that people can understand immediately after arrival to which country they have returned, together with the “friendly” faces of the customs officials. You cannot call a taxi, nor use carsharing, nor plan your route in the navigator. The wonderful results of four years of “jumps and excavations”, combined with “sanctions are good for us”, wrote the user with the nickname “Znatok78”.

“Actually, this is a normal measure… that's how it should be. If it's your SIM card, then you have no problem identifying yourself, and everything will start working immediately. And in many countries there are such measures and nothing happens,” wrote Vadim.

A Russian MP raises the issue of scammers who will be able to steal Russians' data

The vice-president of the State Duma Committee for information policy, Andrei Svințov, deputy of the State Duma, elected from the Liberal Democratic Party, presented his point of view at a press conference, in which he warned about several risks related to this measure.

According to the Russian deputy, one of the consequences could be the mass blocking of Chinese cars, which are managed by SIM cards.

“All Chinese cars will stop, where they are controlled by the SIM card. This is the first and most extensive problem. So far we have not understood whether the government knows about it or not,” said Svintsov.

The deputy claims that residents of border areas will also face difficulties, where the coverage of Russian mobile phone operators overlaps with that of foreign operators:

“The second problem is, of course, the border area. I myself travel a lot around the country, for example, the Pskov region: you go along the border and you always have either a Russian signal or a foreign signal. The Far East, Khabarovsk… half of our country is a border area. This whole border strip will be constantly shaken,” he added. The third problem, according to the Russian parliamentarian, is represented by fraudsters, who “will install themselves in airports” and, with the help of special equipment and phishing links, will steal the data of Russians under the pretext of verification by the mobile phone operator.