For years, WhatsApp and Telegram were the default way many people in Russia talked to family, colleagues and neighbours. Between August 2025 and spring 2026, both services went from working normally to being heavily restricted, while the authorities promoted a state-backed alternative called Max.

This article sets out what happened, in order, using dated reports. It then looks at what the shift means for your privacy, because choosing a messenger is also choosing who can see your conversations. Our sources run to April 2026; we could not confirm the situation in later months, so treat the latest entries as a snapshot rather than the current state.

Summer–autumn 2025: calls go first

  • Summer 2025. Telegram video calls began to be restricted, according to Meduza.
  • August 2025. The federal communications regulator began restricting voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, making it impossible to complete calls in the apps. Reuters reported that the regulator cited the companies' failure to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
  • 1 September 2025. Max had to be pre-installed on phones and tablets sold in Russia, Verdict reported, citing Reuters. The domestic app store RuStore had to be pre-installed on Apple devices from the same date, and the LIME HD TV app on smart TVs from 1 January 2026.
  • October 2025. Both messengers were fully restricted in southern regions, according to Mediazona.
  • Late November 2025. WhatsApp was slowed down nationwide, Mediazona reported.

December 2025 – February 2026: the WhatsApp block

  • Late December 2025. Media reports said WhatsApp's speed in Russia had fallen by 70 to 80 percent, Meduza wrote. The regulator said it was "continuing to consistently introduce restrictive measures". On 23 December, Meta accused Moscow of trying to push more than 100 million users toward "less secure and state-imposed applications", according to Mediazona.
  • 12 February 2026. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said WhatsApp had been blocked, citing Meta's "unwillingness to comply with Russian law", and presented Max as "a national messenger", Reuters reported. WhatsApp responded that "trying to isolate over 100-million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step". Some WhatsApp domain names also disappeared from Russia's national domain register.

February – April 2026: Telegram restrictions in waves

  • 10 February 2026. The regulator began "slowing" Telegram nationwide, according to Meduza, citing RBC. It said it would continue rolling out restrictions, citing "compliance with Russian law and the protection of citizens". Users had already reported disruptions for two days.
  • Early to mid-March 2026. Users noticed growing problems. Network measurements from OONI (the Open Observatory of Network Interference, an international project that tests website and app reachability) showed anomalies in 72 percent of tests by 20 March, meaning the app worked only about one time in three, Meduza reported.
  • 20–23 March 2026. Novaya Gazeta Europe, citing OONI data, reported that blocking reached nearly 80 percent over a weekend, then fell to 51 percent on Monday 23 March. It wrote that a total block had originally been due to take effect on 1 April.
  • 10 April 2026. OONI-based anomalies reached 95 percent on the morning of 10 April, the highest level since the new restrictions began, according to Meduza, citing the outlet Agentstvo. Users reported that messages failed to send and media did not load.

As of the latest dated report in our sources, Telegram was severely restricted but the picture changed from week to week. We did not find a reliable source describing the situation in October 2026.

The push toward Max

Max is the state-backed messenger that the authorities present as the replacement. Mediazona describes how it has been built into official life: a June 2025 presidential decree, a December 2025 law requiring managers of apartment buildings outside Moscow to communicate with residents through Max, and reports of plans to move bank SMS alerts to it.

There are open questions about privacy:

  • What the app checks. In March 2026, an analysis published on Habr reported that the Android version of Max probed whether certain domains were reachable, including Telegram and WhatsApp, reported the results, checked the user's real IP address through several IP-lookup services, and sent a flag showing whether a VPN was active, according to Mediazona. Max's press service denied this and said the IP lookup was needed for voice calls.
  • Permissions. State media say Max "requires fewer permissions to access user data" than WhatsApp and Telegram, according to Verdict. Critics call it a surveillance tool, which the authorities deny.
  • Encryption. None of the sources we reviewed documents whether Max uses end-to-end encryption, and Mediazona reported that military units were told in February 2026 not to use it, reportedly because it was insufficiently secure.

What end-to-end encryption means here

End-to-end encryption means a message is encrypted on your device and can only be decrypted on the recipient's device, so the company running the service cannot read it. The three apps differ:

  • WhatsApp says on its privacy page that personal messages, photos and calls "stay between you and the people you choose" and that "not even WhatsApp can see them".
  • Telegram says in its FAQ that ordinary "cloud chats", including groups, use server-client encryption, while "all messages in secret chats use end-to-end encryption". Regular Telegram chats are therefore not end-to-end encrypted by default.
  • Max: no public, independently verified information on this point was found in our sources.

Protecting your accounts and data

Whatever you use, these steps are lawful and help in any country:

  • Turn on two-step verification in every messenger you use, so a stolen SMS code alone cannot take over your account.
  • Back up chats you care about while the app still works, and store the backup somewhere you control.
  • Review app permissions in your phone's settings, especially location, contacts, microphone and camera, for every messenger including Max.
  • Avoid unofficial "modified" messenger apps and links promising a "working version". They are a common way to spread malware and steal accounts.
  • Know what your IP address reveals. Apps can see your public IP address and, through it, your approximate location and provider. Our WebRTC leak test shows what your browser exposes, and our guide What is a VPN? explains what a VPN does and does not hide.
  • Check local law before installing or changing any tool, and verify news from more than one dated source.

Key takeaways

  • Restrictions came in steps: calls in mid-2025, WhatsApp slowdowns and then a block announced on 12 February 2026, and Telegram restrictions that intensified from February to April 2026.
  • Max is pre-installed on new devices and promoted by the state, but independent information about its encryption is lacking, and a March 2026 analysis raised questions about what it checks on your phone.
  • Encryption differs between apps: in Telegram, only secret chats are end-to-end encrypted.