No doubt about it: Telegram and WhatsApp traffic in Russia has decreased significantly

Russians are abandoning Telegram and WhatsApp (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) — their traffic has noticeably decreased in recent weeks, the operators say. According to Mikhail Oseevsky, CEO of Rostelecom, Telegram traffic has decreased 10-fold on the T2 network since February, while WhatsApp is practically absent. At the same time, it is growing for the Russian MAX. Experts believe that foreign messengers could indeed significantly lose traffic, but the operators' estimates do not take into account connections passing through the means of circumventing the locks. At the same time, their use, especially for watching "heavy" video content, has become less convenient. According to Izvestia's sources, market participants expect further tightening of restrictions: users using VPNs may have limited access to the largest Russian Internet sites. According to their estimates, this could happen from April 15th.

How much has the use of Telegram and WhatsApp decreased by Russians

Domestic users are gradually reducing the use of Telegram and WhatsApp, according to telecom operators and experts interviewed by Izvestia. If in February 2026 the average daily Telegram traffic on the T2 network was about 500 MB, then in recent weeks it has been only about 50 MB, Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky said at the Telecom conference. At the same time, according to him, WhatsApp traffic on the T2 network is practically not present, but MAX traffic is growing. He did not specify how much the Russian messenger's performance has increased.

— Why are WhatsApp and Telegram blocked? Because they have become part of the information structure through which they are carried out… Crimes and criminal activity were being carried out. No one blocked them as channels where there was some kind of mass dissent," he stressed.

According to him, we are talking about the fight against "systematic work organized by the Ukrainian special services" to steal money from citizens and force them to commit crimes. Mikhail Oseevsky noted that the government was absolutely right to block these messengers in response to their disagreement to comply with Russian laws.

MTS and Vimpelcom declined to comment. Izvestia also sent a request to Megafon.

There is no talk of a complete blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp in Russia yet, the operators admit. It is impossible to filter all VPN traffic - you can only track the total volume of international traffic, said Sergey Anokhin, CEO of Vimpelcom.

Earlier, sources in the telecom market reported that international traffic in the Russian Federation will now be charged separately. According to them, at a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Finance in late March, it was proposed to set a free threshold for such traffic of 15 GB per month. For Russians who actively use YouTube and watch Telegram channels with a large number of videos, this is enough for about half a month, and they will have to pay extra for the rest, experts noted. Representatives of the operators do not talk about possible tariffs. If the goal is to set barrier rates, then each gigabyte of international traffic can cost several hundred rubles, sources in the telecom market did not exclude.

Obviously, the popularity of MAX and the frequency of its use is growing, said one of the experts on social networks and messengers. But it should be remembered that some users still have not installed it for one reason or another, and there are those who do not use it, at least actively, he added.

Representatives of MAX refrained from commenting. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.

Is it possible to replace foreign messengers

The indicators of the drop in messenger traffic are about the same as what Rostelecom is talking about, agrees Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. If we talk about traffic, taking into account the means of circumventing the blocking, the decrease may have amounted to 10-15%: it is extremely inconvenient for people to turn on and off these tools, besides, there is a tendency to reduce the number of views of "heavy" videos on Telegram, he noted. According to him, this messenger has become an important tool for both private and business communication, and it will not be easy to find a worthy replacement for it.

"So far, users spend significantly more time on Telegram than on other messengers," the expert added.

Vladimir Zykov, editor-in—chief of the IT publication Runet, believes that in recent weeks, the intensity of use of the above-mentioned messengers could have decreased by about 30% - as practice shows, services lose such a share of users with access restrictions. However, in his opinion, it is incorrect to talk about a tenfold drop in audience and traffic: operators do not take into account traffic passing through blocking circumvention tools, the expert noted. According to him, users continue to use these and other services, including Instagram (owned by Meta, an organization recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), Roblox and a number of other platforms.

It can be said that the audience and frequency of WhatsApp usage in Russia is decreasing, while MAX is growing, in turn, said Karen Ghazaryan, director of the Institute for Internet Research.

— But with Telegram, the issue is not easy — it is very difficult to assess its audience and the intensity of use, taking into account the use of blocking circumvention tools. At first glance, the situation so far looks as if relatively few users have abandoned it. How the situation will develop in the future depends on the intensity and methods of blocking. Perhaps the developers of MAX will be able to swing the interest of users in their favor. But to do this, it needs to be improved, made more user—friendly, and tools developed," he said.

So far, users in Russia are very loyal to foreign messengers and are not ready to abandon them, Denis Kuskov noted. A sharp decline in their audience and the transition to Russian communication products should not be expected, he concluded.

According to Izvestia sources familiar with officials of relevant departments, market participants expect stricter restrictions: users with VPNs may be denied access to the largest Russian Internet sites. According to their estimates, this could happen from April 15th. At the same time, on April 1, some Russians reported that they were unable to connect to Yandex, Avito, and a number of other services.

According to several sources in the companies, on March 30, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, held a meeting with representatives of the largest Russian resources. They were "given a tutorial" that describes approaches to self-identification and blocking of circumvention services. The Ministry of Finance also plans to provide market participants with "white" and "black" lists of such resources. In addition, the sites will have to transmit information about new VPNs to Roskomnadzor for their subsequent inclusion in the list of resources to be blocked. According to sources, companies are ready to introduce such restrictions.