Telegram Temporarily Accessible Without VPN for Some Users in Russia
On the evening of April 16, 2026, users in Russia reported that Telegram, the messaging app blocked by authorities since March, was functioning without the need for a VPN or proxy service for several hours. The independent investigative outlet iStories documented these occurrences through user reports in channel comments and group chats. Notable figures, including Yandex’s director of industry relations Ksenia Boletskaya, confirmed the unexpected accessibility, noting that even video content was loading successfully. However, access was not universal; a poll conducted by Meduza indicated that only 6 percent of respondents could access the platform directly, while over 60 percent still required circumvention tools. Data from the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) corroborated this limited accessibility, recording successful connections in 11 percent of cases, a figure consistent with trends from the preceding four days. The specific technical or administrative reason behind this temporary lapse in blocking remains unknown. This incident occurs against a backdrop of intensified government crackdowns on VPN services following the initial restriction of Telegram, highlighting the ongoing volatility of internet censorship enforcement in the region.
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Telegram Temporarily Accessible Without VPN for Some Users in Russia
On the evening of April 16, 2026, users in Russia reported that Telegram, the messaging app blocked by authorities since March, was functioning without the need for a VPN or proxy service for several hours. The independent investigative outlet iStories documented these occurrences through user reports in channel comments and group chats. Notable figures, including Yandex’s director of industry relations Ksenia Boletskaya, confirmed the unexpected accessibility, noting that even video content was loading successfully. However, access was not universal; a poll conducted by Meduza indicated that only 6 percent of respondents could access the platform directly, while over 60 percent still required circumvention tools. Data from the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) corroborated this limited accessibility, recording successful connections in 11 percent of cases, a figure consistent with trends from the preceding four days. The specific technical or administrative reason behind this temporary lapse in blocking remains unknown. This incident occurs against a backdrop of intensified government crackdowns on VPN services following the initial restriction of Telegram, highlighting the ongoing volatility of internet censorship enforcement in the region.
Meduza.io