In February, RBC, citing unnamed sources, reported that Telegram will be blocked again in Russia. Whether this is really the case, how the new censorship mechanism works, and how to bypass the blocks — in our article.
How Telegram was banned, allowed — and banned again — in Russia
At the time of publication, the will-they-won't-they between Telegram and the Russian authorities have been going on for almost 10 years — let’s go through the key points.
October 2017
Telegram is added to the registry of OIDs — organizers of information dissemination. This status obliges services to store metadata for a year and the archives of chats and calls for six months for possible transfer to the secret services. The “Yarovaya law” also requires providing the Federal Security Service with “keys for decrypting” messages.
2018–2019
Roskomnadzor initiates the blocking of the messenger through Moscow’s Tagansky District Court after the owners refuse to hand over the encryption keys. In an attempt to force the messenger to cooperate, agency employees block 15 million IP addresses, causing disruptions in the work of banks, universities, and stores. Some VPN services report a 1000% increase in the number of paid subscribers.
November 2019
The Sovereign Internet Law comes into force. The authorities move from blocking IPs to filtering protocols through DPI systems and TMCT equipment — technical means of countering threats. This centralization will form the basis of future mechanisms for isolating the Runet.
June 2020
RKN officially lifts the blocking of Telegram. At the same time, the above-mentioned court decision was not canceled. However, attempts to block the messenger took on a new form.
2021–2024
Regular “resilience drills” are carried out as part of fencing off the Runet from the global network. As a result, from 2024, there are massive disruptions in the regions in the work of Telegram, WhatsApp, and Google services. Experts doubt the official versions about DDoS attacks, seeing the cause of what is happening in the work of the TCMT.
August 2025
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs links Telegram and WhatsApp to cybercrime, thus justifying the blocks. “White lists” of sites available during blocks are presented, and foreign messengers are not on them. Across the country, massive mobile internet shutdowns begin under the pretext of security, and disruptions in the work of WhatsApp and Telegram arise.
Early 2026
By February of this year, WhatsApp is blocked completely, and the authorities plan to fully restrict the operation of Telegram on the Russian territory by the beginning of April.
However, already in mid-March, the authorities sped up the process and proceeded to the full blocking of Telegram. Problems with access are reported in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast, Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast, Kazan, Bryansk, Vladimir, Yakutsk, Voronezh, Ryazan, Tambov, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Stavropol, Irkutsk, Vladikavkaz, and Novosibirsk.
Telegram blocking 2026 — a new approach or old techniques?
We analyzed how the new package of measures by RKN differs from those taken in 2018.
Why was it possible to bypass the block at all
Previously, blocking led to serious problems in the Runet as a whole. At the same time, not all operators had TCMT in their arsenal: coverage was around 60%, while now it is more than 95%.
What sets the blocking of Telegram in 2026 apart at the technical level
Operators have coverage and capacity, and the signature filtering mechanism has been improved and tested. The stage is set. You could say that in 10 years, blocks have become more effective, but the factor of surprise is more important here. MTProto and MTProxy — Telegram’s original data encryption protocol and the implementation of a proxy server for it, which came out in 2018, were something new and interesting. Censors studied them, testing and ramping up their own capacity.
The blocking mechanism itself is the same, but better and more refined. More effective detection of VPN traffic, hosting, and everything else has an effect — all this affects Telegram.
Previously, censors looked for weak points — servers, proxies, and CDNs. Now they block more roughly and massively, not fearing that something will break or go completely wrong. We have found ourselves in a situation where there is a list of sites you can visit, and everything else is forbidden.
Another feature of RKN’s work this time is the daily rhythm. At peak hours, when the use of Telegram grows, the number of complaints from users also grows. And it is clearly not about the size of the sample: we are clearly observing a targeted fight against the messenger.
Is there any chance that there will be no blocking of Telegram?
In our opinion, the only thing that restrains the authorities in any way is the enormous volume of traffic in the Russian Federation, the complexity of transferring it to, say, MAX and security risks. Let’s put it this way: Telegram has been tested over time across many parameters, and there is no point in shooting yourself in the foot.
At the same time, it is easier to block the messenger under the current conditions: RKN has adopted the experience of Chinese and Iranian colleagues. In addition, almost all providers in the Russian Federation are equipped with DPI equipment, the signature analysis mechanism has been improved, and overall capacity has been increased.
RKN did their homework this time
This being said, the efforts of the messenger’s developers to bypass restrictions lately are, unfortunately, not enough. For example, calls via proxy are not supported by the client, neither via MTProto nor via SOCKS5. However, the community is trying to solve the problem.
Any attempts to introduce mechanisms for bypassing blocks will most likely lead to the messenger being removed from some app stores altogether — censors do not like that.
It should not be forgotten that to bypass blocks within “white lists”, you need a server from an allowed AS (autonomous system), which no one will give to Telegram. Even if they manage to buy it (which is almost impossible), it will be blocked right away.
The disappointing result: at the moment, we do not see how the Telegram team can counter the blocks.
How to keep access to Telegram
MTProto still works in the environment of home providers, but on mobile networks, it may be of no use. Many hostings are blocked, which has affected messenger’s performance. In the context of “white lists,” the selection of servers comes to the forefront. Ideally, they should be in these lists — VK Cloud, Yandex, Sber, and so on.
The good news: on wired internet, Telegram proxy is still alive and will work for some time in one form or another.
The bad news: it seems that there are leaks of DNS and RTC requests. The former determine where the traffic will go, the latter are responsible for the stability of the connection. So it is important for both users to disable peer-to-peer (P2P) and enable VPN, even if one of them is in a region where Telegram is not blocked. We are observing limits on media download speeds, as well as problems with calls due to enabled P2P, and are actively studying these issues.
Using the bare SOCKS5 protocol is pointless; it does not mask traffic. At the same time, SOCKS5 from locally launched VLESS, VMess, and others may work given adequate hosting and settings.
In the medium and long term, MTProxy will not last long — it is better to use full-fledged VPN protocols or protocols with good obfuscation, such as VLESS or Hysteria.
Our advice is to use AmneziaWG.
The future of Telegram is in your hands
The messenger is being actively blocked, and we recommend preparing for the worst-case scenario. At the very least, stock up on a reliable VPN service.
We offer the free and easy-to-configure Amnezia Free. Install it to stay in touch with friends and family when Telegram is finally blocked.
The next level: Amnezia Premium. The subscription gives access to 20 different locations and the ability to connect up to seven devices to share access to a free internet.
At the time of publication, we are seeing access problems with Telegram for a small portion of users and are already working on a solution.
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