MOSCOW, April 14 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that internet restrictions, which it conceded had caused disruption to many Russians, were needed for security reasons, but that they were temporary in nature and would be lifted once it was safe to do so.
Authorities shut down the mobile internet in Moscow for nearly three weeks in March and regularly block it elsewhere across the world's largest country, citing the risk of Ukrainian drones using it to guide attacks.
Authorities have also stepped up a campaign to block messenger apps like Telegram, as well as virtual private networks (VPN) used to bypass online censorship.
"No, this isn’t a step backwards," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if these were regressive moves.
"We are currently in a situation where security considerations dictate the need to take certain measures," he told reporters.
"It is clear that restrictions on internet access cause inconvenience for many citizens, but this is the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. Once the need for these measures has passed, internet access will, of course, be fully restored and returned to normal."
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Andrew Osborn and Anna Peverieri; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
