Internet Apocalypse in Russia: Websites and Services from Telegram to Wikipedia are Down.

Massive Internet Service Outage in Russia

On August 21, 2024, a massive outage occurred in the operation of internet services in Russia. Users report problems accessing popular messengers, social networks, and other online platforms.

According to Downdetector, most complaints were about the performance of Telegram and WhatsApp. Access problems to these messengers are observed not only in Russia but also in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. However, it is Russian users who faced the most serious difficulties.

In addition, outages have been recorded in services such as Pornhub, Wikipedia, Twitch, Skype, Discord, Steam, and Roblox. Some users report problems accessing bank websites, mobile operators, the social network "VKontakte," and the search engine "Yandex."

Interestingly, even the site "Sboy.rf," which is designed to track outages, has become unavailable for many users.

According to internet expert Mikhail Klimarev, this massive outage could be an "attempt" or "testing" of blocking certain applications in Russia. He recalled that a similar situation was observed on August 19, when Telegram was unavailable to many Russian users.

It is worth noting that some of the listed services still work through VPN. However, the internet remains inaccessible or unstable for many Russians.