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Russian users of Telegram have reported significant issues with the messaging app, marking the second major disruption this week. According to data from Downdetector, the initial outage occurred on August 19, affecting users primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg who experienced interruptions without the use of a VPN.
Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society, has pointed out ongoing issues with WhatsApp and Telegram, indicating a potential intentional blockage of these services in Russia. Klimarev further pointed out that the RKN’s failure monitoring tool, “Sboy.rf,” was also down, which he attributed to systemic issues rather than a DDoS attack, as claimed by Roskomnadzor. The agency attributed the outages to a DDoS attack on telecom operators’ services, which they claimed to have neutralized.
The disruptions have extended beyond messaging apps, impacting various online services in Russia, including Roblox, Steam, Discord, Twitch, AppStore, Skype, VKontakte, and Yandex. Some banking websites and Wikipedia have also experienced downtime.
Klimarev speculated that the outages might be linked to Russian authorities testing the feasibility of blocking specific applications, noting that similar issues have been reported in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. He questioned the plausibility of a widespread DDoS attack affecting multiple services simultaneously.
The recent blockage of Signal, as announced by Roskomnadzor earlier this month for alleged violations, and preparations for potential restrictions on WhatsApp and YouTube signal increasing censorship efforts. Reports suggest that VK, controlled by the Kremlin, is developing a new national messaging platform, which may coincide with a broader crackdown on Western apps. The authorities have been gathering information to facilitate a comprehensive block on YouTube, following observed playback issues since late July.