State Duma explains how to unblock WhatsApp and Telegram

Messengers WhatsApp and Telegram are not intended to be blocked in Russia simply «out of spite». This was stated by Sergey Boyarsky, head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. According to him, the services must comply with Russian legislation.

«No one plans to turn off or slow down WhatsApp or Telegram out of spite. But they, like guests in any house, must work according to Russian laws. Open an office in Russia, cooperate in the fight against fraudsters. But neither WhatsApp nor Telegram responded to this. Therefore, in August 2025, it was decided to degrade their voice calls,» said Boyarsky in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The deputy explained that Telegram is not planned to be completely disconnected for now, as it is a «large social network» used by many Russians and government representatives.

«Huge efforts have been invested into it by our citizens and media, they run their channels there. Let»s see how they will migrate to MAX. I started one there. But I also kept a channel on Telegram,« noted Boyarsky.

He also added that in Russia, they do not plan to ban the use of VPNs, restrictions are only imposed on advertising these services.

Recall that WhatsApp began to be blocked in November 2025 due to violations of Russian legislation. Roskomnadzor stated that the messenger is used for organizing and conducting terrorist actions. The State Duma noted that the service could be completely blocked as early as 2026.

In Telegram, however, video and voice calls have not been working since the summer of 2025. Roskomnadzor noted that new restrictions in the messenger are not being introduced for now.

Read about what free services are currently available for calls.

* Owned by Meta Corporation — an extremist organization whose activities are banned in the territory of the Russian Federation.