Mobile service disruptions and flight delays reported across Russia ahead of Victory Day parade

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned of “temporary disruptions” of mobile internet in Moscow and its surroundings ahead of the Victory Day parade on 9 May, as local residents reported mobile service issues throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.

In comments reported by Interfax news agency, Peskov said the disruptions would continue “up until 10 May”, until all foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who are expected to travel to Moscow for the parade, leave the Russian capital.

Over 30 Russian cities have reported mobile service disruptions over the past few days, Telegram channel Baza wrote on Wednesday, including Moscow and its surroundings, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, as well as cities and settlements in the Yaroslavl region in central Russia, the Tver and Kaluga regions in western Russia, and the Kursk region near the border with Ukraine.

Maria*, who is spending the May holidays in a settlement near Klin in the Moscow region, told Novaya Gazeta Europe that the mobile service in her area had been cut off since 3pm on Tuesday and had since worked sporadically. “They promised to gradually restore it, but we have had practically no internet since Tuesday afternoon,” she said.

Alexandra*, a resident of northern Moscow, said there was no mobile internet at all in her part of the city as of Wednesday afternoon, while residents of other Moscow districts told Novaya Gazeta Europe they were unable to access taxi services or order food from delivery apps.

Mass flight disruptions also continue at airports in major Russian cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg, with videos showing hundreds of people stranded at St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport and Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. Meanwhile, some passengers, including popular Russian singer Nikolay Baskov, were unable to leave their plane for hours at Pulkovo Airport as arriving planes queued up on the landing strip.

“People are sleeping anywhere they can, some have been here for almost 24 hours,” Yekaterina*, who has been stranded at Sheremetyevo Airport since her flight was cancelled, told Novaya Europe.

Kyiv has stepped up its drone attacks on Moscow in recent days as the city gears up to celebrate Russia’s Victory Day on Friday, with Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reporting that air defences had downed 14 drones as they approached the Russian capital between 10pm on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said that Ukrainian drones had struck the Russian military’s Kubinka air base near Moscow, which houses Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter jets, as well as the Shaykovka air base in the nearby Kaluga region, which is home to Tu-22M3 bombers and missile warehouses.

*Names have been changed.