Russia’s internet shutdowns push state firms back to landlines

[u/pjw724]

https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/14/russias-internet-shutdowns-push-state-firms-back-to-landline-phones

[u/th6r6o6away]

This is like when their gas shortage lead people to start buying horses a few months ago, global superpower yall!!

[u/stonertear → u/th6r6o6away]

Could just buy an EV

[u/Pablo_is_on_Reddit → u/stonertear]

They thought it stood for Equine Vehicle

[u/zomgieee → u/Pablo_is_on_Reddit]

Equestrian Velocity

[u/zaevilbunny38 → u/stonertear]

So this keeps getting suggested and I ask the same question each time without answer. Let's say Russia orders 1 million ev cars for 2027. Since they have no money to maintain infrastructure. Where will the money come from to upgrade the electrical grid, along with build the thousands of new chargers for the cars?

[u/morgrimmoon → u/zaevilbunny38]

And it's Russia, so they can't use solar for a significant portion of the year. At least somewhere like Australia if you're somewhere remote you can drape a solar blanket on the car's roof and trickle-charge your way out of trouble.

[u/Cosack → u/morgrimmoon]

While Australia is basically cloudless, Russia is about as cloudy as Canada and France, and less cloudy than Peru. Which is to say... it's fine.

[u/s_nz → u/stonertear]

Ev sales have seen a big uptick.

[u/CapAggravating784 → u/stonertear]

We just found out Elon’s strategy with starlink restrictions… selling EVs to Russia lol

[u/Ill_Science2788 → u/stonertear]

It seems to me that people should go there themselves, or at least read up on what it’s like in Russia. I don’t live there, but I know there are many places there that don’t even have access to running water or electricity. Aside from the infrastructure, which is practically nonexistent, how the hell are those poor people—for whom even the cheapest car is a luxury they can’t afford—supposed to buy an electric car! Guys, what are you even talking about? Russia is Moscow; the rest is just a backwater.

[u/fartonisto → u/stonertear]

If only it were that simple huh. 

[u/stonertear → u/fartonisto]

It literally is.

[u/CustomerBusiness3919 → u/th6r6o6away]

And their troops riding into battle on donkeys.

[u/B-Z_B-S]

Vladimir Putin cares more for devoting resources to his political disinformation bots than for his actual citizens.

[u/notloggedin4242 → u/B-Z_B-S]

They are more important to his existence.

[u/Flabberingfrog]

Russians were withdrawing cash en masse because of internet restrictions beforehand and fear of what was to come. Many businesses over there also rely on the internet to work. I'm glad Ukraine is hitting the economy instead of civilians, but this is also a very good reminder to countries that continue to remove non-profitable analogue/backup solutions to make society work. Relying on digitizing everything is super risky. Even French store refrigerators are connected to the internet! Always keep some cash and supplies at home!

[u/maybelying → u/Flabberingfrog]

People quickly forgot that during the big blackout in 2002 on the northeast US and Eastern Canada, landline phones were pretty much the only thing still working for most people.

[u/pjw724]

State procurement of landline telephones tripled in the first eight months of 2026 as mobile internet outages hit nearly 80% of the country. Rostelecom’s chief urged Russians to keep one at home “like a fire extinguisher".

[u/406highlander]

Be a shame if something happened to the telephone exchanges.

[u/marklein → u/406highlander]

Seriously. Those are even easier to target than data centers because they can't really be moved or replaced easily.

[u/CapAggravating784]

Mother Russia. What a joke of a country - waging war on neighbors and sending its own citizens back to the 1960s.

[u/Bl4ckb100d]

Take them back to the middle ages

[u/themikker]

Ah yes, let's move towards centralised, easily targetable and difficult to repair infrastructure.... To counter the widespread drone campaign against high-value infrastructure targets. 

Russia, everybody.

[u/Paceys_Ghost]

Calls on RadioShack!

[u/Canadianguy2044]

Ukraine new target landline hubs for Russian phone system send the Russians back to the telegraph era

[u/MorganaHenry → u/Canadianguy2044]

send the Russians back to

..smoke signals

[u/Psych_Art → u/MorganaHenry]

They got plenty of those!

[u/Venafib → u/Psych_Art]

Their smoke signals are in all-caps

[u/SuspiciouslyDullGuy]

Any chance Mr Putin you could just let your neighbours run their own countries? Sure, Russia needs a secure Black Sea fleet for defense, but you could achieve that with control of Sevastopol and agreement for permanent military bases in eastern Ukraine, to secure supply lines. You don't need Ukrainian industry. You could build up your own industries. At the end of the Cold War you had an advantage in space, aeronautics, and defense industries. You could have had a space company to rival SpaceX by now, and an aircraft manufacturer to rival Boeing. Instead you spent your resources on weakening your neighbours. As if that really mattered. As if countries like Ukraine (or Georgia) could ever be a threat to Russia. Why are you still focused on weakening your neighbours instead of strengthing Russia's economy? The world wasn't out to get you, or Russia. They just wanted you to stop fucking your neighbours.

[u/Sommyonthephone]

Pick up the phone and hear a dial tone.

[u/Here4daKicks]

Good thing those phones have been tapped since the 1960s

[u/reddit_poopaholic]

Would be a shame if somebody took a lesson from the Russian playbook and cut their cable lines

[u/livingthroughpain]

Internet shutdown? What!? Did I missed something?

[u/captsmokeywork]

Musk will sell them Starlink.

[u/macross1984]

One step forward, two steps back. What we take for granted in the west, Russians will be forced to revert and adapt best they can.

[u/idiom_exon_0s → u/macross1984]

It can happen here.