Russia has tried to "fully block" WhatsApp in the country, the company said on Thursday, as Kremlin authorities crack down on foreign-owned apps and social media access.
WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, said Russia was taking a "backwards step" by attempting to "isolate" more than 100 million users and push them toward a state-pushed alternative.
Russian authorities have tightened controls on messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Telegram while shoving forward its new Max messaging app as a replacement. Russia's government now requires all electronic gadgets sold in Russia to have Max -- widely described as a state surveillance tool and "super app" imitating China's WeChat platform -- pre-installed on devices.
Moscow has accused the messaging apps of breaching national laws and labeled Meta an "extremist" company in 2022. A Russian court at the time banned Instagram and Facebook in the country shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. X, formerly Twitter, was also blocked in March 2022.
Human rights experts say state-sponsored platforms and websites in Russia are restricting the population's access to only approved versions of news and history while risking personal data ending up in the hands of law enforcement agencies. Many Russian residents do not know how to access virtual private networks, or VPNs, to swerve state controls, Human Rights Watch said in 2025.
"We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected," WhatsApp said in a statement on Thursday. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government for comment via email.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday Russia would unblock WhatsApp if Meta showed a willingness to comply with Russian laws and " enter into dialogue with the Russian authorities."
"If the corporation continues to cling to its uncompromising stance and, I would say, demonstrate absolute unwillingness to [comply] with Russian laws, then there will be no chances," Peskov told the state-run Tass news agency.
A senior Russian lawmaker said in January that Russia's Roskomnadzor telecoms regulator would entirely ban WhatsApp in the country by the end of 2026. This would be "absolutely justified," Andrey Svintsov, the deputy chair of the IT and communications committee in Russia's lower parliamentary house, told Tass, particularly ahead of the legislative elections in 2026.
Roskomnadzor partially blocked WhatsApp and Telegram in August 2025 by stopping users making voice calls. Analysts with the U.S.-based Center for European Policy Analysis think tank said the previous month Russia had carried out a "sustained attack on WhatsApp, which is hugely popular and is now the last major Western social media platform not yet banned."
Russian state media had reported on Tuesday that Roskomnadzor would limit access to Telegram and had already slowed down users' access to the messaging app. More Russian residents are thought to use Telegram on a daily basis than WhatsApp.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born technology businessman and founder of Telegram, said on Tuesday that Moscow was "restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship."
"Restricting citizens' freedom is never the right answer," Durov said. "Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure."