In a major escalation of internet censorship the internet and communication watchdog Roskomnadzor officially began restricting access to Telegram messenger in Russia on February 10, The Bell reported citing anecdotal evidence later confirmed to RBC business portal by the watchdog itself.

Roskomnadzor, or the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, is the watchdog orchestrating internet outages and targeted blockings of online services.

The ban on Telegram continues broader regulatory tightening and state takeover of the Russian digital space, as Kremlin pushes for the “internet sovereignty”, closely followed by bne IntelliNews. 

According to Downdetector cited by The Bell, up to 615,000 people may have experienced Telegram disruptions in a single day.

Telegram, founded by Russian tech guru Pavel Durov and now headquartered in Dubai, is the second most popular mobile app in Russia and, more importantly, through Telegram “channels” the main newsfeed of the Runet.

The Bell warns that restrictions on Telegram may transform Russia’s information space beyond recognition, and not even the widespread use of VPNs will be able to fully mitigate all its consequences.

RBC first cited unnamed sources and reported that Roskomnadzor had decided to “start taking measures for partial restriction” of Telegram as of February 10. 

A few hours later, the agency officially announced it would “continue implementing consistent restrictions” against the messenger, accompanied by standard accusations of violating Russian law and claiming that Telegram does not protect personal data and does not take action against fraudsters.

The Bell notes that the Russian state media accompanied Roskomnadzor’s announcement with a flurry of reports about grievances against Telegram: since the beginning of the year alone, eight administrative protocols have been drawn up against it for failure to remove prohibited content, resulting in RUB64mn in fines.

Most likely Telegram will continue to function with disruptions, much like WhatsApp does at the moment, The Bell suggests. 

As followed by bne IntelliNews, in 2020 Telegram of exiled tech celebrity Pavel Durov made a surprise comeback on the Russian business scene, as the messenger app has been unblocked in Russia after a two-year stand-off with the security services and legislators. 

Notably, the state sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) previously bought part of the bonds issued by the messenger, which raised concerns over Durov's willingness to cooperate with the Kremlin. Telegram quickly gained new subscribers in Russia after the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and amid the blocking of foreign social networks.

But The Bell claims that Telegram had ceased to be considered “domestic” by Russian authorities, and since Durov’s arrest in France, the authorities have reportedly questioned the platform’s loyalty. 

Durov was formally charged in France with crimes that include complicity in drug trafficking and distribution of child pornography, but released on August 28 after he posted €5mn bail.

Blocking Telegram is also in line with priming state-controlled MAX messenger of internet major VK for domination in the Russian messenger services.

The idea to develop a national messenger on the Max platform developed by VK was previously endorsed by Putin at a recent government meeting with Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev and then signed off with a presidential decree.

Since then Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has ramped up its campaign to restrict foreign digital platforms.

MAX messenger is now legally prerequired to be preinstalled on every smartphone and tablet sold in Russia, it has to be featured mandatory on the Russian app store RuStore, including on Apple devices, and is required to access public services platform GosUslugi.

Currently, MAX has 89mn registered users, making it one of the five fastest-growing digital projects in the world, according to Kremlin internet overseer and Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Kiriyenko. 

These official numbers are comparable to Telegram, which in December 2025, according to Mediascope, had a monthly audience of 93mn, and daily of 74mn. 

But as a media platform, the “national messenger” cannot compete with Telegram, even by official metrics. The audience of the top 30 Telegram channels at the end of last year was 60 times larger than that of MAX channels, according to The Bell.

Notably, on the day Telegram was blocked, MAX introduced a feature for creating private channels. Forbes reported that the state messenger also sent letters to administrators of public channels (media and large bloggers) recommending they “remind their audience” about the presence of their channels on MAX. 

MAX still lacks ad tools, business functions, and The Bell claims that slowing down Telegram in favour of MAX is being criticised not only by ultra-patriotic “war correspondents” but also by official pro-war propagandists that use Telegram channels as their main media.

Telegram founder Durov, previously stayed silent when Russian authorities restricted voice calls on Telegram (while actively criticising restrictive moves by Spain, France, Romania, the UK, Australia and Germany), has this time issued a comment.

Russian authorities are restricting access to the platform to push Russians toward MAX, “created for surveillance and political censorship,” Durov said, as cited by The Bell. Despite the pressure, Telegram will continue to “defend freedom of speech and the right to privacy,” according to Durov. 

However, unlike during the first attempt to block Telegram in 2018, the messenger has not yet introduced any built-in tools for bypassing the block.

Financially, losing the Russian market would be a significant blow for Telegram. According to Durov, the platform has over 1bn monthly active users, with Russia accounting for around 10% of that base. Russian users are among the most engaged: 62% log in daily, and on average, according to Mediascope, spend about 47 minutes per day on the app.

Telegram messenger made $540mn profit in 2024 versus $172mn loss in 2023, despite ongoing legal proceedings in France. Durov himself appears to be cosying up to the US tech elites.

bne IntelliNews covered in detail how Telegram turned to debt financing to support its development after the company’s founder Durov halted his TON blockchain project in 2020, following a prolonged struggle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). TON was ordered to pay back $1.22bn worth of investment in its Gram tokens.

At the time of the bond issue in 2021 Telegram was reportedly expected to hold an IPO by the end of 2023 at a valuation of $30bn-$50bn with 10-25% free float.