If you’re planning a trip to St. Petersburg, there’s something important to know about staying connected. Authorities here can temporarily shut off mobile internet, both in the city and across other parts of Russia. Officially, this is done for security reasons — for example, when there’s a threat of drone attacks. But don’t panic: even during an outage, you won’t be completely cut off. Russia has something called «white lists» — a special set of websites and apps that continue to work normally. With these, you can still order a taxi, message family through an approved messenger, or pay for a purchase or service.
Why does St. Petersburg turn off the internet, and how often?
The official explanation is security, particularly the risk of Ukrainian drone attacks. But that’s not the only reason. Mobile internet also gets shut down during high-profile political or economic events, as well as when senior government officials visit the city. Even if there’s no immediate military threat, authorities prefer to play it safe and restrict access. How often this happens depends on the situation and the event calendar. Sometimes the outage lasts just a few hours — but occasionally, it can go on for an entire day.
How «white lists» work
This is a strict filtering system implemented by mobile carriers. Here’s what you need to know:
— Only pre-approved websites and apps work. Everything else is inaccessible. Important: VPNs won’t help here, because the filtering happens at the carrier level, before any encryption kicks in.
— It’s a «whitelist» policy: the carrier maintains a list of trusted resources; everything outside that list is blocked.
— The system is run at the carrier level, with lists put together by the Ministry of Digital Development (Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media) in coordination with Russia’s largest mobile operators.
Why were «white lists» created?
The purpose is to make sure people can still:
- Use everyday services they rely on
- Stay in touch with family and friends
- Reduce inconvenience for citizens and financial losses for businesses
What’s actually on the list?
«White lists» include services considered essential for daily life — including for tourists. Here are some examples:
| Category |
Examples |
| Banking |
Banking apps (e.g., Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank) |
| Transportation |
Ride-hailing apps: taxi (e.g., Yandex Taxi, CityMobil) and car-sharing (e.g., Delimobil, City Drive etc) |
| Delivery & Marketplaces |
Food delivery, online marketplaces (Ozon, Wildberries, Samokat etc) |
| Messaging |
State messenger app «Max» (removed from AppStore) |
| Payment systems |
Mir pay, SBP (Fast Payment System) |
| Email services |
e.g., mail.ru, mail.yandex.ru |
There’s no official complete list yet, but the Ministry of Digital Development keeps expanding it over time.
Important things to keep in mind
- YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, and several others are essentially blocked in Russia, regardless of any whitelists.
- Different carriers may have different lists: what works on one network might not work on another.
- Even approved sites sometimes glitch: don’t be surprised if a «whitelisted» website or app refuses to load.
- No clear rules: there are no transparent criteria for what gets allowed and what doesn’t.
- It’s about access, not free service: the point is to keep things available during an outage, not to make them free.
Unlike normal internet filters, «white lists» work backwards: everything is forbidden except the specific domains and IP addresses approved by Roskomnadzor (Russia’s media and telecom regulator).
One of the main apps, which of course is included in the allowlists, is Yandex Go. Yandex Go is a multi-service app for rides, delivery, and everyday on-demand services. In supported cities and regions, you can order a taxi, food, groceries, and packages, use car sharing, rent scooters, book a boat, and arrange cleaning services. We wrote about this app here.
