Maksut Shadayev and Andrey Lipov use Telegram themselves

Maksut Shadayev comes into comments on public posts, and Andrey Lipov bought Telegram Premium

Foreign intelligence services have access to correspondence on Telegram, head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev said today at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. However, this does not stop Shadayev himself from using the messenger, Vorstka discovered.

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The last public message of Maksut Shadayev is dated December 28, 2025

The profile of the head of the Ministry of Digital Development says that he was online “recently.” This status means that Shadayev was definitely online for a period of up to two or three days.

The minister is quite active in the messenger - he left more than 350 messages in public chats alone, the last one dated December 28, 2025. Most of them are devoted to work issues and IT, but sometimes Shadayev appears in comments on posts where he himself is discussed.

For example, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development commented on a post where he was called a “skufo-geek” “with beer, a belly and a month-old T-shirt.” "Well, yes. Happens. Well, these are not sweatpants, but still trousers,” wrote Shadayev. He also responded to criticism of his ministry. One user called him a “carrot” and “mom’s minister.” “I’m not a carrot, why are you doing this,” answered Shadayev.

The head of Roskomnadzor Andrey Lipov bought Telegram Premium

The head of Roskomnadzor, Andrei Lipov, also continues to use Telegram, whose agency is slowing down the messenger. Unlike Shadayev, the head of Roskomnadzor is more secretive: his profile does not indicate a login, and his nickname consists of the first letters of his first and last name - “AL”. But at the same time, Telegram Premium was purchased from Lipov. He was also online “recently.”

Earlier, the telegram channel “We Can Explain” wrote that the children of the head of the RKN - Dmitry and Varvara Lipov - also actively use the messenger, which is “slowed down” by their father.

On February 10, massive disruptions occurred in Telegram operations in Russia. RBC sources said that Roskomnadzor decided to begin work to slow down Telegram. The department itself stated that the gradual restrictions are being introduced due to the messenger’s failure to comply with Russian legislation.

Currently, Telegram blocking has affected almost all Russian regions - the speed of Telegram in Russia has decreased several times. According to State Duma deputies, a complete blocking of Telegram is not planned, but restrictions will remain. However, as Vorstka sources assure, the final blocking of Telegram may be tied to the result of the State Duma elections.

Photo: Maksut Shadayev takes part in the session “Innovative Economics: From Numbers to Data” as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024. Maksim Konstantinov / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

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