A woman checks her phone while walking along a street in Moscow, backdropped by the State Historical Museum and the Kremlin, on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, PAVEL BEDNYAKOV / AP
Russia has blocked the popular messaging service WhatsApp over its failure to comply with local legislation, the Kremlin confirmed on Thursday, February 12, urging its 100 million Russian users to switch to a domestic alternative.
For months, Moscow has been trying to shift Russian users onto Max, a domestic messaging service that lacks end-to-end encryption and that activists have called a potential tool for surveillance. It has threatened a host of internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws, including those requiring data on Russian users to be stored inside the country.
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In Russia, authorities are tightening control over communications even further
