The blocking of Telegram in Russia has sparked outrage among supporters of the war – NYT
Restrictions on access to Telegram and other popular messaging apps in Russia have sparked a wave of discontent even among citizens who support the war against Ukraine. As The New York Times notes, many Russians viewed these actions by the Kremlin as a violation of an unspoken social contract, under which the government did not interfere in citizens’ daily and personal lives in exchange for their political passivity.
Over the past year, Russian authorities have consistently blocked popular messaging apps and social media platforms, forcing citizens to switch to the state-run Max app. All messages sent through it are fully accessible to the FSB. The very fact of total surveillance has already become the subject of jokes on Channel One—which clearly illustrates the level of public frustration.
Previously, only liberal-minded city dwellers expressed dissatisfaction with internet restrictions. Now they have been joined by pro-Russian propagandists and supporters of the war. In their posts, they even use the word “grandpa”—a derogatory nickname for Putin that was previously used only by the opposition. It alludes not only to the president’s age—73—but also to his indifference toward modern technology: Putin does not use a smartphone and receives information only through television and printed reports.
The blocking pattern remains the same: first, access to a foreign service is blocked, while simultaneously promoting a domestic alternative owned by people in the Kremlin circle. Facebook and Instagram were blocked in 2022, YouTube in 2024, and Telegram in 2025. The latter proved particularly painful: Telegram had become the primary media platform for millions of Russians and the main communication channel for soldiers on the front lines.
At the same time, complete internet blackouts became more frequent. The official explanation was to minimize the impact of Ukrainian drone attacks. However, in practice, according to the NYT, the outages never once prevented successful strikes. In particular, the March wave of attacks paralyzed ports on the Baltic Sea for several hours—through which up to half of Russia’s oil exports pass.
The Russians’ silent resistance has been the widespread adoption of VPN services. It is estimated that about 60 million Russians are familiar with them, and 40% of internet users use them regularly. The Kremlin has responded: it is pressuring Apple to remove VPN apps from the Russian App Store and is investing about $300 million in a project to block 92% of VPN services by 2030.
Public protests have been sporadic so far. At the end of March, a youth demonstration took place in Moscow—the organizers were either arrested or fled the country in a hurry. However, as the NYT author notes, Putin is destroying what has sustained his power for decades: freedom of personal life in exchange for political loyalty.
As a reminder, in 2026, Russia significantly increased funding for foreign propaganda—to $1.85 billion, more than half as much again as last year. Ukrainian intelligence has documented the expansion of the Kremlin’s influence networks in Europe and a shift in tactics—from overt propaganda to more covert information campaigns.
Ukrainian authorities state that Russia spends billions of dollars annually on cultural and children’s propaganda. A significant portion of these funds is directed toward media content and exerting influence through cartoons and digital platforms, Berezhna emphasized in Kyiv on Tuesday during the presentation of the results of a study on Ukrainians’ content consumption, conducted by Gradus on behalf of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, with support from the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation. Officials in Kyiv stress that the response must be the development of Ukrainian cultural products.
