Pavel Durov criticized the actions of the Russian authorities. Even the Z-community is against it - due to the use of the messenger at the front

Roskomnadzor, for at least the fourth time in the last six months, announced the introduction of restrictions on the work of Telegram, again citing a violation of Russian laws. Users from the Russian Federation are massively complaining about disruptions, and media sources suggest that a complete blockage could occur before the next State Duma elections in the fall of 2026. Even some propagandists and “military correspondents” who use the messenger at the front spoke out against the measures. The main thing for the current moment is in the material of “New Europe”.

UPDATE 19:45
Telegram founder Pavel Durov spoke about blocking the service in Russia. In his English-language Telegram channel, he emphasized that “restricting the freedom of citizens is never the right decision,” and the leadership of the messenger “stands for freedom of speech and privacy, despite any pressure.”

“Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-owned application ( meaning the Max messenger - editor's note ) created for surveillance and political censorship.

Eight years ago, Iran tried the same strategy and failed. He banned Telegram under false pretexts, trying to convert people to a government alternative. Despite the ban, the majority of Iranians continue to use Telegram (bypassing censorship) and prefer it to applications under surveillance,” Durov said.

UPDATE FEBRUARY 11 15:40
Added a statement by Dmitry Peskov about communication at the front via Telegram and the reaction of the Z-community.

Slowdown

Over the past few days, more than ten thousand users of the Downdetector service from Russia have complained about problems with Telegram. A decrease in traffic on February 9 and 10 is indeed recorded, a source in the telecommunications market told Forbes. On February 10, RBC reported that the Russian authorities decided to start “slowing down” the messenger, citing sources. The information was later confirmed by Roskomnadzor:

— As was publicly reported back in August 2025, for services that systematically ignore Russian legislation, gradual restrictions are provided with the possibility of their removal if the violations are eliminated. Unfortunately, a number of messengers, including Telegram, have not eliminated these violations.

Roskomnadzor once again accused Telegram of the fact that the messenger does not comply with Russian legislation, does not protect the personal data of users, and also that the service “lacks real measures to combat fraud and the use of the messenger for criminal and terrorist purposes.” After confirming that Roskomnadzor is restricting the work of Telegram, TASS, citing law enforcement agencies, recalled that,

According to court decisions, Pavel Durov's company must pay the Russian state more than 29.6 million rubles for violating laws. In total, 21 enforcement proceedings have been opened against the messenger.

Roskomnadzor began limiting the work of Telegram back in August 2025. Since then, the department has strengthened the blockade at least twice.

It is not yet clear when access to Telegram may be completely closed for Russian users. However, a complete blockade this year is not ruled out, writes the publication “Verstka”, citing sources in the presidential administration. In particular, according to the publication’s interlocutor close to the Kremlin, a complete blockade is possible in September, after the State Duma elections. There are no plans to block the messenger until the end of the voting, since it is “politicized and convenient both for assessing sentiment and for campaigning,” says another source of “Vestka” in the AP. According to the publication, the authorities fear a negative reaction to “United Russia’s 70%.” Meduza previously wrote about a similar scenario: the publication’s sources reported that the AP intends to maintain the “network of telegram channels” already formed in Telegram until the elections to influence public opinion.

New attempts to block Telegram occur against the backdrop of the promotion of the national instant messenger Max. Recently it added the function of private channels. Their authors “can post photos, videos and notes, record video circles and voice messages.” According to Forbes, Max also began sending out recommendations to channel administrators to “remind the audience about your channel in Max and encourage them to subscribe to it.”

At the same time, State Duma deputy Alexander Yushchenko said that the issue of slowing down Telegram was not discussed by members of the relevant parliamentary committee. State Duma deputy Andrei Svintsov noted that he fully supports limiting the work of the messenger. In his opinion, “we must gently force them to comply with Russian legislation.”

“Let them experience the consequences of their decisions first hand.”

The restrictions on Telegram also had opponents among government officials. For example, Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League, which fights “banned” content and is known for denouncing public figures, emphasized that her position on blocking remains unchanged:

— In any case, I do not support proposals to introduce restrictions on Telegram. Losing a much-needed tool to promote meaning and a pro-Russian position would simply be a mistake.

Dangerous content exists on every platform, she said, but “it’s important to look at the actions that platforms are taking to combat such content and individual criminals.” Mizulina believes that “in this regard, Telegram is not all that bad.”

Also, administrators of war-time telegram channels did not like the new restrictions. Thus, in the Z-channel “Russian Volunteer with the call sign “Thirteenth”” they call Roskomnadzor “an accomplice of the enemy.”

“Let’s ban everything in the world... ban telegrams, and then we’ll probably use pigeon mail for military purposes. Humanitarian aid will come to naught, and this will mean the lives of soldiers... They’re just complete freaks, they haven’t come up with anything good, but they run around with their prohibitions like a fool with a mortar,” the post says.

The author of the channel himself stated that he himself would never switch to MAX and would work in Telegram “until the last.” He also proposed gathering the “forbidden people” into one assault battalion, including deputies who supported the restrictions, and “giving them the opportunity to experience all the consequences of their fucking decisions on their own skin.”

Channel Vault 8 stated that “the particular infamy of the telegram’s slowdown is that communication at the front is carried out through the telegram.” The Z-channel Fighterbomber was also dissatisfied with the decision of Roskomnadzor.

Meanwhile, RT political commentator Egor Kholmogorov limited himself to a short comment: “Fugots” regarding the decision of the RKN. In the Z-channel “Two Majors” they noted that “the prospects for a cozy little cart are now clear,” and the authors of the channel: “It’s a shame.” Propagandist Evgeny Norin published a post with a reference to the monologue of the hero of the film “The Green Elephant”:

“Your stories have simply finished me off; I can no longer listen to them.” One story is more amazing than the other, simply. About telegram scammers. About some kind of enemy propaganda, about terrorism. What are you talking about anyway? Can you shut up? Telegram will break, we’ll go back to VKontakte. What are you talking about? In general, be amazed.

In the DSRG “Rusich” the decision of the RKN was called another stupidity “just to ban everything”, which will give “nothing but irritation among the people.”

On February 11, the Kremlin commented on the Z-community’s complaints about the consequences of Telegram’s slowdown for the Russian military. Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that imagining a situation in which “front-line communication is provided through Telegram” or some other messenger, in his opinion, is “difficult and impossible.” The Kremlin spokesman also called on Telegram to comply with Russian laws.

Z-channels argued with Peskov’s statement. Thus, Daniil Bezsonov, who held positions in the government of the self-proclaimed “DPR,” noted that Telegram is actively used at the front: “Orders are given, reports, secret documents, etc. Moreover, previously all this was done in the leaky WhatsApp. Telegram is at least safer.”

The use of the messenger at the front was confirmed by Russian military officer Platon Mamatov. According to him, no alternatives to such a connection appeared during the entire war.

“And how, according to the respected press secretary, does communication take place at the front? Everything is tied to telegram chats: exchange of information, coordinates, broadcasts (often conducted in the now blocked Discord ), etc. The degree of isolation from reality is simply amazing. Just like the fact that we still do not have a reliable, secure and guaranteed working satellite communication system. But, probably, according to clearly censored reports, the picture in the troops is completely different,”

stated in the neo-Nazi unit of the Russian army DSHRG “Rusich”.

“I try to always use normative vocabulary. But this is complete bullshit. The Planet of Pink Ponies appeared before us in all its glory,”

- says the telegram channel “Comrade Artem” in response to Peskov’s statement. Both this and other authors associated with the Z-community noted the isolation of the Kremlin representative’s statement from the real situation at the front. In particular, Z-channels “Thirteenth” , “Military Informant” and “Philologist in Ambush” wrote about this.