Access to the messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp has been blocked in 40% of Russia’s regions, according to the Na Svyazi (“Connected”) monitoring project. Earlier, Roskomnadzor (Russia’s media regulator) announced restrictions on the services, citing their alleged use by “criminals.”
“An increasing number of complaints about the unstable operation of messengers are coming from across Russia. So far, 34 regions report losing the ability not only to make calls but also to exchange messages in these popular apps,” analysts said.
Russia officially consists of 85 regions, excluding the “newly annexed territories.”
Na Svyazi notes that three waves of blocking have been recorded so far. Authorities began restricting access to WhatsApp and Telegram on Monday, October 20, initially affecting mainly southern regions of Russia. In some other affected areas (such as the Vologda, Kirov, and Chelyabinsk regions), the issue was not widespread.
By Monday evening, a second wave of blocks began, impacting Bashkortostan and the Irkutsk region.
On October 21, restrictions spread to 21 additional regions, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Yaroslavland Kaliningrad regions, Yakutia, and several regions of the Russian Far East.
On October 22, Roskomnadzor officially announced that it had begun “partial restrictions” of WhatsApp and Telegram.
“In order to combat criminal activity, and in accordance with materials from law enforcement agencies, measures are being taken to partially restrict the operation of foreign messengers,” the agency said.
Roskomnadzor claimed that both platforms have become key channels where “criminals deceive and extort money from citizens” and “recruit them into sabotage and terrorist activities.”
According to the agency, the services’ management refused to cooperate with Russian authorities in countering these alleged crimes.
Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Protection Society, said that WhatsApp is effectively blocked in parts of Russia, while its operation elsewhere in the world remains “relatively normal,” with user complaints “within statistical variation.”
“The process [of fully blocking Telegram and WhatsApp in Russia] is underway — exactly according to plan. At this rate, Telegram will likely be blocked completely by December or January. It’s a repeat of the YouTube scenario,” Klimarev wrote on Telegram.
The American video platform YouTube began to be blocked in Russia in the summer of 2024 and by the end of that year had ceased to function on all devices without VPN access.
