The Telegram messenger has been throttled in Russia since mid-March 2026, and all this time we’ve been living in a “sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t” mode. Voice messages won’t send, images take half an hour to load, and you can forget about videos altogether. Some people moved to MAX, some are using VPNs, and some have simply accepted the situation. But now, it seems, this story has a chance for a good ending — for the first time in a long while.
Will they actually unblock it?
Why Authorities Decided to Ease the Telegram Block
Forbes, citing a source familiar with the discussions, reported that authorities have decided to ease the Telegram block. In short — people are fed up. Since the beginning of the year, Russia raised VAT from 20% to 22%, lowered the revenue threshold for simplified taxation, prices are rising, connectivity is lagging, and mobile internet is being shut down across entire regions. And on top of all that, Telegram — which literally the entire country uses — works only intermittently. While people accepted the blocking of Telegram calls relatively calmly, the poor performance of the messenger itself has been met with far too much negativity. All of this piles up, and the level of frustration is noticeably rising.
The Forbes source says it plainly: the pressure has been decided to be reduced specifically by easing Telegram blocks, because this could help relieve the tension that has been building since the beginning of the year. Bloomberg adds a detail that explains a lot — the throttling of the messenger is negatively affecting Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings, and the Kremlin has noticed.
So the decision here isn’t about “we changed our minds, Telegram is good.” The decision is purely pragmatic: when you take away people’s familiar communication tool against a backdrop of rising prices and taxes, they start getting angrier than about everything else combined. The messenger turned out to be the last straw.
Telegram Unblock Date: What We Know
Nobody is naming a specific date for the Telegram unblock
Officially — nothing specific. On April 14, Dmitry Peskov stated that internet service in Russia would be fully restored when the need for “certain measures” dictated by security concerns no longer exists. The presidential press secretary acknowledged that the restrictions create inconveniences for citizens, but gave no specific timelines or promises.
Formally, the Kremlin has not commented on either the Forbes or Bloomberg reports. Roskomnadzor is also silent. But the very fact that Peskov has started talking about “restoration” and “normalization” is already a shift in rhetoric. Just a month ago, we were being told that the blocks were necessary and justified, and now it suddenly turns out that they will be lifted at some point.
Neither Forbes, nor Bloomberg, nor Kremlin sources are naming specific dates. Discussions are ongoing, a decision seems to have been made at the level of intentions, but exactly when we’ll see Telegram once again normally sending voice messages and loading videos — remains unclear.
It’s important to understand a couple of things. First: even if the easing does happen, it doesn’t mean the messenger will be unblocked completely and forever. Most likely, they’ll stop throttling the speed and remove the harshest IP restrictions. Second: decisions of this level in Russia are made slowly and are often rolled back. Today a source said one thing, and tomorrow Roskomnadzor might tighten the blocks even further — as has already happened more than once.
What Telegram Is Doing in Response to Restrictions
While Russia debates whether to ease restrictions or not, Pavel Durov is doing his thing. On April 11, he announced a platform update and stated that the Telegram team has updated its anti-censorship protocol. In other words, the messenger is actively working on bypassing blocks on its own — regardless of what gets decided and where.
In parallel, starting April 6, Telegram began flagging user accounts that are accessed through unofficial apps — a warning now appears in the profiles of such users. That’s a separate story, and it shows that the platform is simultaneously fighting both external blocks and internal security issues.
What to Do While Telegram Remains Blocked
As for WhatsApp being unblocked — you definitely shouldn’t count on that
This is the first genuinely positive signal for Telegram users in Russia in many weeks. But for now, it’s exactly that — a signal, not a fact. The sources are anonymous, there are no official comments, no timelines, no specifics. All we know is that the topic is being discussed at a high level and that the argument “people are angry about this” has finally been heard.
What can you do right now? First, don’t delete your VPN — you’ll definitely still need it. Second, don’t delete alternative messengers if you installed them just in case. Third, keep following the news, because the situation is changing literally every day. And hope for the best — for the first time in a long while, there’s actually a reason to.
