Telegram has enabled a feature that bypasses blocks for paid users
17 April 15:10
Users in Russia first noticed that Telegram had managed to bypass Roskomnadzor’s block. On the night of April 16–17, the messaging app became available again to some Russians. Telegram began testing a method to bypass the block for paid users by masking traffic. Now, in Telegram’s settings, Russian users’ account connections are being switched to a different country, and traffic analysis shows atypical masked connections, according to the “Durov Code” project, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
“As we can see, in the ‘Devices’ section, the geolocation of the active session suddenly changes to the U.S.,” notes the publication’s source.
So far, the service has resumed working only for users with paid Telegram Premium accounts on Android. On the latest versions of the messenger, starting late on the evening of April 16, all app features worked correctly without a proxy or VPN, notes Durov’s Code. On iPhones and computers, this update did not work.
According to the OONI system, the messenger’s availability dropped to nearly zero in March, indicating that Telegram was no longer accessible without bypass tools or a VPN. On March 15, there were 12,000 complaints about the messenger’s malfunction, and nearly 6,000 on March 16, as reported by “Sboy.RF.” Last year, the authorities blocked the ability to make calls via Telegram; the feature was disabled, and since the beginning of 2026, users have faced problems downloading media files.
Russians began looking for alternative means of communication. Due to the war, the user base of Asian messaging apps has grown sharply. The fastest-growing apps were the Turkish BiP, South Korean KakaoTalk, and Chinese WeChat. In March, BiP doubled its monthly active audience in Russia, increasing it by 105% to 1.68 million users. KakaoTalk grew by 82% and reached 436,400 users. WeChat, the leading messenger in China, saw a 15% increase in its audience, with the monthly Russian user base on WeChat exceeding 1.15 million people.
