Russia's shutdown of mobile internet has sparked concerns about digital repression in the country. However, the reason may be that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin fears the fate of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, per Newsweek.
The first reports of the internet outage appeared on 5 March in some areas around Moscow, blocking access to foreign websites, taxi and delivery apps, and government services. Residents of the city began criticizing the move, but not Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine.
Later, outages were also reported in Russia’s second-largest city, Saint Petersburg. The Kremlin explained that the disruptions were part of security measures to protect against Ukrainian drones that rely on satellite communications.
Kremlin’s invisible enemy: Fear of death and digital traps
However, the outages coincide with reports from pro-Kremlin bloggers that Putin has tightened security around his residences in Moscow, Sochi, and the Kremlin.
A source in Russian security services, cited by the Telegram channel INSIDER-T, claimed that Putin faced an "internal threat," which involved a plot to plant "biochemical material" in his bed linens or to place an explosive device in an area he would visit.
Although these claims are unverified, the independent Russian-language outlet Agentsvo reported that Putin curtailed his public appearances following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in the US bombing.
Khamenei's neutralization forces Putin into hiding
Agentsvo reported a nine-day gap between Putin’s public events at the Kremlin starting 9 March, one of the longest gaps this year. The outlet noted numerous virtual meetings between Russian leaders and officials, as well as appearances by Putin that appeared to be pre-recorded.
The first minister of state security of the illegal Russian entity operating on the Ukrainian territory, Andriy Pinchuk, also linked the Russian outages to the Iran war.
Fear of assassination paralyzes the capital
Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said that the Kremlin was concerned about how American and Israeli intelligence tracked Khamenei using street surveillance cameras.
The connection between the outages and Putin’s fears was also made by Kremlin critic Bill Browder, who said that Moscow’s internet was shut down "because he believes that is how Khomeini was located, targeted, and killed." According to him, Russia turned off the internet because it thinks the Ukrainians, or possibly someone else, might use the internet to track and kill him.
