Russia's government has moved aggressively to tighten its grip on the domestic internet in early 2026, blocking the messaging app Telegram, launching a sweeping crackdown on VPNs, and imposing mobile internet shutdowns of unprecedented scale — moves that observers link to the Kremlin's growing alarm over the use of artificial intelligence in modern warfare.

The immediate backdrop is the Israeli-US military campaign against Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury, which began on February 28, 2026. The operation has relied heavily on AI-assisted targeting, including through Project Maven — developed by Palantir Technologies for the US Pentagon since 2017 — which uses machine learning to fuse satellite imagery, geolocation data, communications intercepts, and other surveillance inputs to identify targets at speed. According to BBC reporting, more than 11,000 strikes have been launched against Iran since the campaign began. Political theory professor Elke Schwarz, speaking to France 24, warned that the pace of AI-driven decision-making — roughly 41 missiles per hour in the conflict's opening day — effectively eliminates meaningful human oversight, and noted that AI targeting models carry an error rate of 50 to 75 percent, making the technology both powerful and deeply unreliable.

Independent Russian media outlets, including TV Rain and The Bell, reported that the Kremlin was shaken by these developments. Moscow underwent a three-week mobile internet shutdown from March 6 to 24 — the first such shutdown in the Russian capital — which paralysed not only digital services but also the metro system, grocery stores, and public facilities. The Bell's sources attributed the shutdown to a directive from the Scientific and Technical Service of Russia's Federal Security Bureau (FSB), with officials describing it as a response to unspecified security threats. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered only the word