Roskomnadzor blocked a VK group opposing electricity tariff increases in Irkutsk.

The "TarifOFF" community of an Irkutsk activist Denis Bukalov unavailable since December 5th. At the time of blocking there were more than 2,8 thousand subscribers.

"This is just an ordinary, harmless group—not extremist or terrorist. It's a perfectly ordinary group that published content about how people defend their right to a fair electricity rate," Bukalov wrote. "This is a clear example of how the state-run messaging app MAX (after all alternative messaging apps are completely blocked) will block any information whatsoever, unless it's 'God Save the Tsar' or propaganda from the likes of Kiselev and Simonyan."

Denis Bukalov spent two years in Irkutsk Protests against the introduction of differentiated electricity tariffs. He previously filed a lawsuit to overturn the regulation on differential tariffs and won, but the differential tariffs remain in effect because the court overturned the wrong regulation. 

At a rally in September, Bukalov hung a cardboard cutout of the Irkutsk region governor's face on a pole. Igor Kobzev. In October, he installed a cardboard figure with the official's face in the city and called it "Cardboard Colossus."

Differentiated electricity rates have resulted in Irkutsk residents who use more energy than the standard rate paying more than those who don't exceed the threshold. These measures were introduced to combat illegal mining, but they have hurt residents who use electricity to heat their homes.

Photo and video: Denis Bukalov, "Barrel of Black Caviar," "TariffOFF"