The Telegram application, the most widely used app in Russia, temporarily ceased functioning today, Tuesday, for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, access suddenly returned to some previously banned social media applications, such as Facebook and Instagram. The Russian Public Communications Network Monitoring Center reported a "major outage" in the Telegram app without a clear cause at this time. The company responsible for managing the messaging app did not respond to a request for comment.
The Russian Ministry of Digital Development stated, "Efforts are ongoing to restore the Telegram Messenger app and several other services in Russia," adding that the app also experienced outages elsewhere outside of Russia. They noted, "We are working to identify the cause of the incident... As for Russian telecommunications operators, their networks are functioning normally."
Correspondents in Moscow reported that Telegram, YouTube, and VKontakte services were down for nearly 90 minutes. They also mentioned that some banned social media applications, like Facebook and Instagram, suddenly became available in the country.
