Krasnoyarsk Residents Find SIM Cards Active After Asia Vacations

Krasnoyarsk residents who vacationed in Asia report no block on their SIM cards upon return, despite Russia's 'cooling period' rule suspending mobile services for 24 hours.
Jan 31, 2026
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Travelers are advised to check mobile service availability before flying to avoid connectivity issues upon arrival.
Source:
Maria Lenz / NGS24.RU

Krasnoyarsk residents who recently vacationed in Asia told NGS24.RU that their SIM cards were not blocked when they returned home. Although since last year, Russia has implemented a so-called «cooling period» for SIM cards, during which mobile internet and SMS services are suspended for 24 hours.

In Vietnam, internet access often relies on Wi-Fi in hotels and malls, as experienced by Krasnoyarsk residents.
Source:
Maria Lenz / NGS24.RU

«I was in Vietnam from December 28 to January 8, arrived on the 8th in the evening, and the connection worked immediately at the airport. I wrote to my relatives and ordered a taxi without any problems,» said Nikita, whose mobile operator is Megafon.

«We arrived from Thailand on January 19, upon arrival we messaged relatives that we had landed, sent photos via messengers, ordered a taxi, and even made several calls. Although we were very worried that we would be without connection upon arrival and wouldn«t be able to leave the airport. My operator is MTS,» reports Yaroslav.

«We vacationed in Vietnam from December 18 to 28, 2025. There, we only used hotel or shopping mall Wi-Fi when in the city. My service is from T-Mobile. Upon arriving home in Krasnoyarsk, the internet and mobile connection started working on their own. I was able to calmly call my relatives and send photos in a messenger,» says Krasnoyarsk resident Yekaterina.

Krasnoyarsk biker Semyon Tsvetkov shares his experience on how to ensure mobile internet in China.

«Our SIM cards work there—it«s just very expensive. The question is what works and what doesn»t. Because messengers and other things are blocked there, so over the local network you won«t be able to write anywhere. All services that are blocked here don»t work in China either,» says Semyon Tsvetkov.

At the end of last year we reported that the number of direct flights from Krasnoyarsk to China would increase—with added flights to the cities of Shanghai, Qingdao, and Xi«an.

Here our colleagues from MSK1.RU listed over 100 visa-free countries for Russians and talked about each: whether a passport is needed, how many days one can stay, and what nuances there are.

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