Reports of a ‘quiet’ unblocking of Telegram in Daghestan, which emerged in late May, have ultimately proven unfounded. After several days of ‘information freedom’, residents of the republic once again cannot access the app without a VPN.
While no official notices were issued regarding lack of access to Telegram, mass attempts to connect to the messaging app via mobile or home networks are once again unsuccessful.
Social media users have speculated that access to Telegram was only temporarily restored to account for Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s recent visit to Makhachkala. Zakharova’s delegation included a number of foreign journalists.
However, in her own Telegram channel, Zakharova denied any connection between her visit and the messenger’s status, noting that access for her had also remained limited.
A few days earlier, the local Telegram channel Ask Rasul reported an unofficial restoration of access to the app, while a source close to the Dagрestani government confirmed to Vedomosti that Telegram had started working in the republic a week ago.
Telegram was originally blocked in Daghestan towards the end of 2024 by federal authorities on the recommendation of security agencies. At that time, Daghestan’s Minister of Digital Development, Yuri Gamzatov, stated that the messenger was ‘often used by Russia’s adversaries’ to coordinate protest actions, including the unrest at Makhachkala airport in October 2023.
Similar restrictions remain in neighbouring Chechnya.
In spring 2025, Daghestani authorities officially appealed to Moscow to reconsider the decision, citing the region’s socio-political stability and the inconvenience caused to residents and tourists. Nevertheless, the federal regulator decided to maintain the ban, and local officials have since remained silent.
Technically, the renewed blocking operates as follows: when attempting to open Telegram without a VPN, the connection is cut off at the operator level, and requests are redirected to Russia's communications regulator 'Roskomnadzor’s pages with a notification of the resource’s unavailability.
To date, neither Roskomnadzor nor the Daghestani government have issued any official comment on the resumption of the block.
Telegram is not the only messaging app to be blocked in Russia — Facebook, Instagram, Viber, Discord, Youtube and other platforms are also partially or fully blocked.
Elizaveta Chukharova
