Russian authorities have recently taken steps toward significantly restricting the operation of Telegram, a popular messaging service, and are now threatening its total shutdown. The move, however, is unlikely to put off a significant section of the population from using the service, including the regime's loyalists.

Serious disruptions

As of now, Telegram has not yet been officially blocked in Russia, but users have faced major restrictions for many months. In recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated, as Roskomnadzor, the country's communications watchdog, acknowledged a “partial slowdown” of the service in February. Starting in March, users began complaining about unstable file downloads and message delays.

The number of complaints about Telegram on just one single day, March 20, reached 13,418, the highest figure recently, Sboy.RF, a Russian service tracking app disruptions, reported.

Most complaints came from users in Moscow (20%), St. Petersburg (16%), Krasnodar Krai (16%) and the Rostov and Sverdlovsk regions (5% each).

The Telegram administration continues to fail to comply with Russian law, Roskomnadzor said on March 18, commenting on the platform’s reports regarding the blocking of content.

“Roskomnadzor continues to document the Telegram administration’s failure to comply with Russian law,” the communications watchdog said in a statement quoted by the Russian business daily RBC. 

The Russian government has been saying that Telegram’s administration must comply with Russian law and “maintain flexible communication” with government agencies, which, experts say, is unlikely to happen, and the service is facing a complete shutdown in Russia in the coming weeks.

In addition, on March 15, the Tagansky Court in Moscow fined Telegram RUB35mn ($414,000) for refusing to remove content, allegedly containing calls for extremism. Minister of digital development Maksut Shadayev emphasised that measures against the platform are being taken gradually to minimize inconvenience for users.

Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian security service FSB, said that negotiations with Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian national, are not currently underway, and that previous attempts at dialogue have not been successful.

Meanwhile, the operation in Russia of another popular messenger, WhatsApp, owned by Facebook's parent company Meta, has also been significantly restricted. Voice and video calls have been effectively blocked since 2025, messages are often delayed and photos and files are sent intermittently. Roskomnadzor has said it does not rule out a complete block in 2026.

Kremlin vs. Telegram

The conflict between the Russian authorities and Telegram has a long history dating back to 2018. At that time, the messaging app was officially blocked after it refused to hand over the keys needed to decrypt user messages to the FSB under the so-called “Yarovaya Law.” This law required that Russian citizens’ data be stored within the country and that security services be granted access to communications. 

Attempts to block the service proved technically ineffective and led to disruptions in the operation of many third-party services, andTelegram continued to be widely used. By 2020, Roskomnadzor had lifted the restrictions, citing the platform’s willingness to cooperate in the fight against extremism.

Durov has been a key figure in this standoff between Telegram and Russian authorities. He originally came to the limelight in the mid-2000s as the creator of Russia’s largest social network, VKontakte, - a local equivalent of Facebook. 

He left Russia in 2014, citing pressure from the authorities and the forced sale of his stake in the company. He positioned Telegram as an alternative to state control - a service prioritising privacy and independence. Since then, Durov has obtained citizenship in France and the UAE, and his project has become a global platform with hundreds of millions of users.

By 2025, pressure on Telegram had intensified but had become more targeted. In August, Roskomnadzor restricted voice calls on Telegram, citing the fight against fraud and illegal activities - a claim that few have taken seriously.

A communication standard

While in other countries, including Europe and the United States, Telegram has not been very popular - to some extent due to ungrounded rumors about Durov's possible links to the FSB and the very fact that the messaging service originated in Russia - inside Russia, it is one of the most widely used apps.

As of January 2026 - the most recent data available - Telegram had about 96mn users in Russia, according to media analytics firm Mediascope, a number that corresponds to over 60% of the country's population.

Telegram is basically a communication standard in Russia for chats and the distribution of information.

Despite recent disruptions of Telegram services and the Russian government's active promotion of its messenger, MAX, it has failed to overtake Telegram in user number, which is currently about 77mn.

In Russia, Telegram has long since moved beyond the scope of a typical messaging app and evolved into a versatile digital platform. For millions of users, it is the primary tool for communication- both personal and professional. Thanks to its speed, convenience, and cross-platform compatibility, Telegram has become the go-to environment for communication, file sharing, and coordinating workflows.

Telegram plays a distinct role as a media platform. Channels and chats have become one of the key sources of news, analysis, and commentary - often faster and more diverse than traditional media. Journalists, politicians, bloggers, and experts are active here, forming an alternative information space where users gain access to a wide range of opinions and up-to-date information.

In addition, Telegram is actively used as an aspect of infrastructure for services and businesses. It is used for sales, customer support, and the launch of bots and mini-apps. For small and medium-sized businesses, it is an easy way to reach an audience without complex technical solutions, and for users, it offers a convenient interface for interacting with brands, services, and digital products.

Telegram has also been actively used by so-called Z bloggers, who support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They use Telegram channels to report on events on the front lines, as well as to collect donations for the Russian army. They are also believed to make substantial money from ads placed on their Telegram channels.

Is Russia shooting itself in the foot?

The restrictions and a widely expected shutdown of Telegram, coupled with recent disruptions of mobile Internet services in major Russian cities, have caused discontent among wider population groups, including those who have traditionally been loyal to the regime. And the country's leadership apparently fails to realise this.

"Putin really lives in a bubble," Alexander Baunov, Senior Fellow and Editor-in-Chief at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, recently said on the Carnegie Politika podcast." He is someone who has never once called a Yandex.Taxi, never messaged anyone on Telegram, and never read Telegram channels. He doesn’t really grasp what a vital part of his own people’s lives he has targeted, that, in essence, he has declared war on the loyalists, a large portion of his own loyalist population."

Many people rely daily on Telegram for communication, the spread of information, and the operation of their businesses, and they are unwilling to switch to MAX, a messenger developed by the Russian government and actively touted as an alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp. In addition to being technically inferior to its foreign counterparts, MAX is widely believed to be linked to the FSB, and people are extremely unwilling to share their information on that service.

At this point, it's not yet clear whether the Russian government is going to back down or, on the contrary, introduce harsher restrictions on Telegram and crack down on those unhappy about it.