During the International Youth Festival held in Yekaterinburg from September 11 to 17, foreign participants were granted unrestricted access to the internet. All websites and social networks usually blocked in the Russian Federation opened on their mobile devices without the need to use any tools for bypassing restrictions.
Three separate wireless networks were deployed at the main venue of the event, the Yekaterinburg-EXPO exhibition center. A dedicated communication channel with disabled traffic filtering was created exclusively for foreign delegates. Meanwhile, Russian citizens at the forum used a standard network subject to all government-mandated website blocks. A third, closed network was reserved solely for organizers and speakers.
To connect to the internet, users had to enter the unique number of their accreditation badge. This verification system prevented Russian citizens from accessing the unfiltered communication channel reserved for foreign guests.
Cultural program and alternative solutions
The youth forum took place on the premises of the Ural Federal University campus and the exhibition complex. The event featured performances by popular Russian musicians, including Dima Bilan, Egor Kreed, Zivert, NILETTO, Tatyana Kurtukova, and the band Zveri, as well as lectures by high-ranking officials, including Vice Premiers Dmitry Chernyshenko, Vitaly Savelyev, Marat Khusnullin, and Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin.
This selective provisioning of access to blocked resources is not unprecedented. Previously, a major domestic mobile operator introduced a service allowing clients to use popular foreign platforms, including Spotify and Netflix, which had left the country's market but were not formally blacklisted by regulatory authorities.
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