Russian users have reported a WhatsApp outage in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Friday, Nov. 28, extending the disruptions that hit Siberia and the Urals the previous day.
According to Russian media, the monitoring service Sboy.rf registered over 2,000 complaints on WhatsApp disruptions. Of these, 42% came from Moscow, 18% from St. Petersburg, and 7% from the Moscow region.
Downdetector recorded 593 complaints over the past 24 hours.
Despite growing pressure, WhatsApp remains Russia’s most popular messenger. Mediascope data shows it had more than 97 million unique users in August – an increase from last year – while Telegram, another social media platform created by Russian-born tech mogul Pavel Durov, had 91 million.
Users report slow message delivery, especially for photos, videos, and audio. Some say WhatsApp works normally when using a virtual private network (VPN), a service normally used to bypass government network restrictions.
The disruptions affected all major mobile operators and several fixed-line internet providers.
The previous day, WhatsApp outages in Siberia and the Urals prevented users from sending messages or downloading media. In some cases, the app would not load without a VPN.
In August, Roskomnadzor blocked WhatsApp and Telegram calls under the pretext of “fighting criminals.” In late October, it announced partial restrictions on both apps, accusing them of ignoring anti-fraud requirements. Soon after, registration via text messages for WhatsApp and Telegram began to be blocked.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which Russia has designated as “extremist” and banned following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Defense Society, warned that WhatsApp and Telegram are facing “a literal repeat of the YouTube scenario,” where services are slowed to the point of being unusable. He predicted a complete block on the messaging apps by December 2025 or January 2026.
In 2024, Russia throttled YouTube access to unusable speeds following disputes with the Google subsidiary over censorship claims. Moscow later slapped an astronomical $2.5 decillion fine on the tech firm – a number that exceeds Russia’s GDP since the birth of the universe.
Kremlin’s homegrown answer to Whatsapp, Telegram
Anton Gorelkin, deputy chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee on Information Policy, previously said it was time for WhatsApp to “prepare for its exit” from Russia, adding that authorities would replace it with the “sovereign” Max messenger, which monitors users and provides data to law enforcement.
According to Russian media Vedomosti, government agencies have already been ordered to have their employees switch to Max. The directive, issued by Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev, requires all state and municipal employees – and staff of subordinate institutions – to use Max for work communications.
Agencies may avoid switching only if they already use VK Teams, another homegrown messenger, or have their own secured internal systems.
The transition must be completed by Jan. 1, 2026, for government bodies, and Feb. 1, 2026, for budgetary and subordinate organizations. Agencies must report their progress to Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development by Feb. 1.
State-owned companies and banks were previously barred from transmitting confidential data through foreign messengers. Starting June 1, employees of government agencies, banks, and telecom operators were no longer allowed to use foreign messengers for calls or messages to clients.
However, experts say the shift to Max may prove difficult. Training tens of thousands of employees will require significant time and resources, said Sergey Sayganov, head of Tech Practice.
According to Yuri Mirzoev, CEO of the law firm Mitra, civil servants are accustomed to WhatsApp and Telegram and may resist switching. He noted that hundreds of thousands of staff work in federal agencies alone, and that including regional and municipal bodies could bring the total to 2-3 million.
At the same time, the directive does not ban civil servants from using foreign messaging apps entirely. In practice, they may still combine Max with other services, said Kirill Dozmarov, a researcher at Moscow State University’s Center for Economic and Legal Expertise.