Russia’s St. Petersburg hit by major internet outage amid drone strike warnings therecord.media/russia-sa…

Residents of St. Petersburg, Russia, experienced a widespread mobile internet outage over the weekend — the latest in a series of shutdowns that may be linked to the Kremlin’s efforts to protect critical infrastructure from Ukrainian drone attacks.

The disruptions affected both consumers and businesses, with some cafes, shops and gas stations switching to cash transactions because they couldn’t process card or QR-code payments, according to media reports. Passengers at the city’s train station were told to purchase tickets onboard after service counters and terminals went offline, while carsharing vehicles reportedly stalled mid-drive after losing connectivity.

Telecom providers denied responsibility for the outage, and local authorities have not commented.