Telegram and WhatsApp have been blocked in several regions of southern Russia since 2023-10-20 by Roskomnadzor. The telecommunications watchdog cites the move as a countermeasure against alleged criminal activities using foreign messaging apps.
Region-specific outages
Outages were reported on 2023-10-21 and 2023-10-22 in Krasnodar Krai, Adygea, Volgograd and Astrakhan oblasts, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, and Stavropol Krai. Roskomnadzor's restrictions started in these southern regions before expanding further.
- Telegram and WhatsApp outages were noted in 34 Russian regions as of October 2023.
- DownDetector logged peak complaints for the apps on 2023-10-22 in Volgograd, Krasnodar, and North Ossetia.
Authorities' reasons and actions
Roskomnadzor stated that blocking foreign apps helps prevent extortion and recruitment of Russians for sabotage and terrorism. Alexei Uchakin, an information security expert, suggests these restrictions test new tools for blocking and filtering communications.
Previously, Telegram faced consistent access issues in Dagestan and Chechnya, being blocked federally in March, briefly unblocked in May, and then blocked again.
