Roskomnadzor has blocked the ability to make calls on the popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram. Discussions about a possible WhatsApp ban began several weeks ago: prominent State Duma deputies warned about it, and the executive branch did not refute these rumors. The primary interest in the ban comes from security agencies, which are striving to establish total control over the Russian internet. Messengers whose owners are based outside Russia represent a «gray zone» beyond their influence. In their logic, such channels of information dissemination must be completely shut down. For Russian security agencies, the principle of «better to be safe than sorry» remains paramount.
The logic of civilian bureaucrats differs from that of the security agencies. They cannot be called advocates of freedom and democracy, but they recognize that an immediate ban on messengers creates social problems and complicates their own work. Kremlin political managers and regional authorities actively use these «hostile messengers» for their own purposes. Until recently, WhatsApp was a key platform for school, neighborhood, and workplace chats. This was convenient because the app is installed on most citizens’ devices, except for elderly people using feature phones. Through these chats, officials could monitor public sentiment and influence it. In Telegram, numerous controlled networks operate, linked to the political bloc of the Presidential Administration (AP) and regional authorities. The ANO «Dialogue,» a media tool of the team of Sergei Kiriyenko, the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, oversees popular regional publics. Government bodies, individual officials, and deputies also maintain their own Telegram accounts.
Blocking WhatsApp and Telegram disrupts this infrastructure. The authorities are not opposed to transitioning users to «their» messengers, but creating a viable product takes time. The slowdown of YouTube in Russia showed that only a small fraction of users switched to domestic alternatives. While YouTube was a secondary tool for political managers, WhatsApp and Telegram are critical. Their blocking forces Russians into the «gray zone,» depriving the political bloc of key channels of influence. Additionally, Sergei Kiriyenko has a personal interest: his son Vladimir holds a top management position at VKontakte, the operator of the «national messenger» MAX. This messenger is intended to become an analog of WeChat, but it is currently underdeveloped, and a mass transition to it requires time.
When it became clear to civilian bureaucrats that security agencies were unwilling to wait for a gradual transition to MAX, they began promoting a scenario that would minimize their losses. The main work of influencing public opinion is conducted through Telegram, while school and neighborhood WhatsApp chats can be more easily moved to the «state» MAX under administrative pressure. WhatsApp’s audience is traditionally considered more conformist and loyal, while Telegram, despite rumors of possible cooperation with security agencies, is perceived as a freer platform with a more politicized audience. Therefore, civilian bureaucrats signaled that WhatsApp would have to be abandoned, but Telegram’s audience was not yet under threat.
However, the ritual sacrifice of WhatsApp did not satisfy the security agencies—calls were blocked in both messengers. This will inevitably lead to an outflow of some users, as many value having calls, messaging, channels, and chats available in a single app. The state is actively promoting the MAX messenger, but this campaign has seen limited success so far. Citizens are openly expressing dissatisfaction with the authorities’ disregard for their opinions, which has disrupted their social connections. Notably, even ultrapatriots share this discontent.
For example, the pro-war Telegram channel Fighterbomber, with an audience of over half a million, criticized the call ban: «We’re slowly turning into a kindergarten for adults, where the nanny allows you to booze and smoke until you’re blue in the face or drop dead, as long as I only talk to scammers through a domestic phone or messenger.»
Popular TV host Ksenia Borodina, with over a million subscribers on her Telegram channel and far from an opposition figure, also complained about the ban: «When your entire work is on WhatsApp, all your calls, etc., and they’ve cut off your home internet too, it’s been gone for two days now. I don’t understand what’s going on!»
The authorities’ justification has caused particular resentment: calls in messengers were blocked under the pretext of combating phone scammers. However, according to Central Bank data, most cases of phone fraud occur through regular mobile networks, a fact well-known to Russians. Moreover, scammers have already infiltrated the MAX messenger. The authorities have faced backlash even from those they considered their base. Ultrapatriots typically supported restrictions, and ordinary citizens usually tolerated them. But now, the state has encroached on the everyday needs of its loyal base, causing bewilderment: what is the real purpose of these restrictions? Why are the authorities using explanations whose flaws are obvious to any messenger user? These state measures disrupt citizens’ daily lives: they break workplace communications, force people to seek new, reliable ways to connect with relatives and acquaintances, and hit their wallets, especially for less tech-savvy Russians like pensioners, who now have to pay for mobile call minutes.
The blocking of messenger calls will not, of course, spark mass protests, but the civilian bureaucracy’s submission to pressure from security agencies has made millions of people reflect on the meaning of free speech in its most direct form. Moreover, this measure has shown that the state, for unclear reasons, is willing to sacrifice citizens’ convenience, which suggests it may be hostile to them.
United Russia Before the Race
The Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Vladimir Yakushev, has set a minimum target for the ruling party in elections based on party lists—50%. This figure is not surprising in itself: according to electoral commission data, the ruling party secured over half the votes in all regions during last year’s regional elections. However, when viewed in the context of this year’s elections for regional parliaments in traditionally protest-prone regions like the Republic of Komi and Novosibirsk Oblast, it becomes clear that 50% on party lists is now the necessary minimum even for protest territories. A slight deviation from this target will not incur the Kremlin’s wrath, but regions have been given a benchmark to aim for.
According to informal administrative logic, regions with more manageable electoral systems are expected to show significantly higher results—starting at 60%. In the previous State Duma elections, United Russia officially secured 49.8%. The political bloc of the Presidential Administration, led by Sergei Kiriyenko, has long employed a strategy of demonstrating higher results than in previous federal elections, setting new records. In this context, a KPI of 60% or higher in Duma elections seems entirely predictable, and the benchmarks for «underperformers» articulated by Yakushev indirectly confirm this goal.
