Russia is killing Telegram, its most popular messaging app, despite fears of a backlash
The Kremlin’s tight grip on Russian life has a new target: the country’s most popular messaging app.
Ordinary Russians and pro-Kremlin hawks have offered a rare public backlash against the campaign to eliminate Telegram, warning that it could backfire, not only at home but also for Russian troops in Ukraine.
The program is based on the daily lives of those who support and oppose the government alike. But the Kremlin is instead pressuring people into its new “national” proxy MAX, which many fear could be used to target them as part of a deeper crackdown on freedoms since the invasion of Ukraine. Those fears have been fueled by a wave of mobile internet outages, including a recent outage in Moscow, which authorities have justified as a security need.
Russians have been complaining for months that Telegram has been slow and erratic, and this week users began reporting significant slowdowns.
NBC News spoke to ordinary Russians, regime supporters and human rights activists about the country’s new digital reality.
Telegram sound ‘hacker’
Millions in Russia use Telegram every day for private communication and important information.
Russian officials, Kremlin propagandists, war bloggers, businesses and celebrities are on the app. More than a messenger, it’s an ecosystem for everything from updates on incoming drones in Ukraine to general news and commentary.
But authorities have increasingly quietly used Telegram as a breeding ground for terrorism and criminal activity, with the country’s communications regulator restricting the app and targeting its Russian founder. Similar reasons are already being used to restrict other messaging apps, including WhatsApp-owned Meta.
The latest campaign has drawn criticism from even the most ardent supporters of President Vladimir Putin.
Pro-Kremlin player and activist Grigory Korolov, who also goes by the alias GrishaPutin, uses Telegram to help raise money for the Russian military – in order to get a donation, he gives out stickers that former Russian soldiers put on the shells of their weapons and shoot in Ukraine.
Korolyov, 19, calls himself a “cyber hero” in Putin’s so-called special military operation, a term the Kremlin uses for its war effort. Despite his self-proclaimed patriotism, this native of St. Petersburg told NBC News that he doesn’t understand the idea of ​​restricting or banning Telegram. In fact, he thinks it’s “criminal.”
The app has become a staple of “patriotic” audiences and military analysts, he said in a phone interview, and is used by thousands of people like him to raise money for the Russian military.
“I can only imagine that there is a higher goal to make everything royal, but what is happening right now is destruction,” Korolyov said.
Another activist, Olga Krygina, is collecting humanitarian aid – clothes, water and medical supplies – for Russian soldiers and civilians in the occupied areas of Ukraine, which she calls Russia’s “new territories” in line with the Kremlin’s rhetoric.
Originally from Ukraine in the eastern city of Donetsk, Krygina, 54, now lives in St. But Krygina said she and other volunteers have been increasing their presence at MAX, anticipating a possible ban.
Krygina said she has no problem using the new ambassador, although she said the closure of Telegram “will not be pleasant.”
He said he welcomes the Russian government’s move to block Telegram, because “our secret services know better.”
The Kremlin says Telegram does not comply with Russian laws and is not cooperating with authorities to stop serious crimes it says are being committed on the app. It has been confirmed in NBC News reports by two Russian newspapers that Pavel Durov, the Russian-born tech expert who founded Telegram in 2013, is being investigated for “aiding terrorist activity.” No formal charges have been filed.
Durov dismissed the accusation against him, calling it “a sad spectacle of a country that fears its people” in X last month..
“Russia is blocking access to Telegram to force its citizens into a state-controlled app designed for political surveillance and censorship,” Durov said.
It is not only Russia that has made these allegations, however. Durov was arrested in France in 2024 and charged with allowing various types of crimes on his app. He was allowed to leave France last year after promising to “significantly improve” the control of criminal activity on the site.
The Telegraph did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, has not officially said it plans to shut down Telegram. Asked about the latest cuts on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told NBC News that he had “nothing to add” and was not aware of any contact with the envoy’s management.
Other ‘forced’
On the muddy streets near central Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square, people were reluctant to talk about the possible ban and whether they would consider switching to the MAX. Most wanted to speak their minds without saying their full names, as is often the case in Russia, where dissent is punished.
“Unfortunately, it’s forced, and I don’t like it,” said Varvara about the new national representative. “That’s why I don’t include it.”
Artem, 44, said he installed MAX, but encountered connection problems, accusing its developers of making an “empty” product. He said he is not worried about security, as he feels that Telegram is not safe.
Russia tried to shut down Telegram for failing to provide the country’s FSB security service with its encryption keys in 2018, but was unsuccessful.
Instead, the messenger continued to grow in popularity and was widely used by Russian government officials and Kremlin propagandists. It is equally popular among critics of the Kremlin.
Dmitrii Zair-Bek and Pervy Otdel, a human rights project that helps people facing politically-related crimes in Russia, say they use Telegram to get “primary communication” with Russians who need their help.
“They want to block Telegram because of organizations like us – independent sources of information, not controlled by the Kremlin,” he said. Zair-Bek, who is currently based outside of Russia, expects that many inside the country will continue to use Telegram, however, by installing a virtual private network (VPN) – a technology that has allowed Russians to bypass the Internet’s borders.
Some people also told NBC News they were considering buying another phone to pick up a government-sponsored messenger if pressured to do so. The creators of the application say that the number of users has already reached 100 million, or about 70% of the Russian population.
“I plan to switch to MAX only if there is no other option,” said Maria from Moscow, who did not want her last name to be withheld due to security concerns.
But Zair-Bek is concerned that it will be difficult for his organization to reach people with little technical knowledge, so he is considering a presence in MAX.
“National messenger” is functionally similar to Telegram, but it is also integrated with the Russian government services portal and can be used as a kind of digital ID.
Starting in September, it should be installed first on all electronic devices in Russia. Officials are increasingly redirecting their Telegram audience there, with one regional governor warning of Ukrainian drone attacks only on MAX.
But users have been reporting bugs and security concerns, rating the app poorly and sharing online memes about the stress of using it.
‘Shooting themselves in the foot’
The potential ban on Telegram has been heavily criticized by prominent Russian military bloggers, who say the military relies on the battlefield communications platform in Ukraine.
“For mobile firefighting teams assigned to fight [drones]”Telegram has long been the only (and again, in all caps, ONLY) communication channel,” wrote the powerful military channel Two Majors last month.
Some bloggers reported this week, citing sources on the front lines, that Russian soldiers were told to delete Telegram from their phones or face punishment. NBC News could not independently verify these reports.
Firebrand politician and staunch Putin supporter Sergei Mironov was also left fuming, calling Russian authorities “idiots” for limiting Telegram. Russian soldiers “often have nothing” other than Telegram for communication, Mironov said. “Don’t deprive them of what helps them defeat the enemy and save their lives.”
Russian forces in Ukraine are using only “standard communication systems” that are not linked to messengers including Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said last month.
The Kremlin also resisted anger, when Putin received a report at a recent public event from a communications chief who said there were “no problems” with the military’s communications systems and that Telegram was a “hostile messenger.”
But military management experts told NBC News that the Russian military relies on Telegram for strategic communications, and the Kremlin has no effective alternative.
The Russian military may try to replace it with the MAX, but there are no details yet on how it might perform on the battlefield, said Ronald Ti, a military management expert at King’s College London.
The Kremlin “prioritized national security over efficiency,” Ti said.
