New Delhi, July 19 -- A snappy tune by a blogger that mockingly laments his poor internet connection in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don has gotten over a half-million views on Instagram in two weeks.

"How to say you're from Rostov without saying a word? Show one bar of cellphone service," Pavel Osipyan raps while walking around the city, smartphone in hand. "We have internet until 12 o'clock, and recently there's been no connection at all. No need to be angry, just get used to it already."

The complaints by Osipyan - unable to pay electronically for groceries, or having to use paper maps while driving - aren't isolated to Rostov-on-Don, which borders Ukraine and, as home to Russia's Southern Military District, is targeted fre...