Russian Instagram users voice anger at authorities over prices and internet restrictions
Updated
Updated · Meduza · May 11
Russian Instagram users voice anger at authorities over prices and internet restrictions
7 articles · Updated · Meduza · May 11
Posts cite 40% utility bill rises, costly food, week-long mobile internet outages in villages and pressure on small businesses surviving into February 2026.
Users criticise officials directly and through jokes and memes, saying outages stop children accessing school online and prevent people from working to pay electricity bills.
Instagram has been blocked in Russia since shortly after the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but users remain active there and their posts are becoming increasingly political.
Is Russia's 'digital Iron Curtain' creating the very dissent it was designed to crush?
As living costs soar, can Russia's war economy survive the growing anger of its own people?