St. Petersburg, June 3 — Avia.pro. Residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region have complained en masse about widespread mobile internet outages. Since the early morning of June 3, subscribers of major mobile operators have been reporting an inability to access popular messaging apps and mobile applications in various parts of the city.

According to local residents, communication problems began almost simultaneously with the imposition of a drone alert in the region. Internet users speculate that the traffic restrictions and slowdown may be directly related to security measures taken following a large-scale overnight attack by 59 Ukrainian drones. Furthermore, residents attribute the technical problems to the start of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which officially opens today and runs until June 6, calling for enhanced digital and electronic security measures.

Earlier, Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko warned the public that while air defense forces were repelling a drone attack, a controlled reduction in mobile internet speeds was possible.