Russia blocks messengers and VPNs – and its banks too

Last Good Friday, according to reports, Russia experienced a large-scale failure of digital payment options. The reason is said to be new mechanisms that the state is using to make it more difficult to use VPNs. These, in turn, are necessary to still be able to use state-banned messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Bloomberg reports, citing the independent Russian media outlet “The Bell” and other sources, that numerous banking apps allegedly stopped working on Friday. This, the reports continue, is attributed to new filter systems for VPNs. These also blocked digital payment traffic. The situation is said to have since calmed down again. According to Bloomberg, Russian authorities declined to comment on the incidents. According to a report by the also independent Moscow Times, Russia's Digital Minister announced at the end of March 2026 an intensified fight against VPNs.

Durov: 65 million daily Telegram users via VPN

Where there are internet blocks in Russia, the Russian-born founder of Telegram is never far away. Pavel Durov, who left Russia years ago, has spoken out several times on his service since the outages. He presented the interesting figure of allegedly 65 million daily active Russian users of Telegram, all of whom are said to use VPNs. As the service traditionally strongly resists extensive moderation or state control, it is apparently a thorn in the side of the Russian authorities. Advertising there has also recently become illegal. Although there was resistance against the increasing restrictions on internet services, it was apparently suppressed with the ban on demonstrations and other measures.

Apple restricts subscriptions from Russia

The new regulations and technical restrictions appear to have been in effect since April 1, 2026. From this date, for example, Apple has restricted the payment of subscriptions and other online services via its stores from Russia. The company announced this in a support article. The likely background: Subscriptions for VPNs could also be booked through this, as Apple processes payments to third-party app providers itself and receives a portion of the revenue as commission.

Russia has been increasingly combating Western messengers, which are difficult to control, for months. In February, WhatsApp was technically blocked, and now VPNs are also in the government's sights. They want users to use the state messenger “MAX”, which is to be developed into a kind of “Everything App” modeled after China's WeChat. Max was promptly described by WhatsApp as a “state surveillance app”.

(nie)