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Russia blocks certain Google services in efforts to block Telegram
July 28, 2025
With Russia officiallydeclaring a banof popular encrypted messaging appTelegram, the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) is struggling to enforce that ban. Now, it looks likeGoogleis caught in the crossfire, as certain Google services like Search, Gmail, and some push notifications for Android apps, are not working for Russian citizens.
“We are aware of reports that some users in Russia are unable to access some Google products, and are investigating those reports,” Google said in an email statement toTechCrunch. This is the first time that Google has acknowledged something related tothe Telegram situation.
It could very well be that RKN blocking access to Google is a ploy to get Google to step in and reprimand Telegram. Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has refused to comply with the Russian ban; at press time for this article, Telegram is still available in Russia. If Google’s services are blocked, it may force Google to take action on behalf of Russia to get Telegram to acquiesce to the ban.
If that is the case (and that’s a big “if”), it means Russia doesn’t know how to block Telegram on its own and needs Google to police its network.
However, the more likely situation is that Russia is flying blind and blocking everything it comes across that could be related to Telegram. According to Ilya Andreev, the COO and co-founder of Vee Security, RKN is “embarrassingly bad at blocking Telegram, so most people keep using it without any intermediaries.” Vee Security is currently providing a proxy for Telegram for Russians to use to bypass the ban.
To bypass IP address blocking enforced by Russia, Telegram “hops” from one IP address to another once an IP address it’s using is blocked. This results in RKN blocking multiple IP addresses all at once at a rapid pace, as it struggles to keep up with Telegram. It could be that Russia inadvertently blocked a set of Google IP addresses and now has to decide what to do next.
The Russian government has broad powers over its citizens and the internet, so it can block any amount of IP addresses it likes. However, with eyes on Russia and its statuswhen it comes to human rights– not to mentionthe World Cupright around the corner – from a PR standpoint, blocking access to Google services is not doing the country any favors. After all, if people from all over the world show up for the World Cup and can’t check their Gmail, that will look bad for Russia, not Google (or Telegram, for that matter).
So far, Telegram’s cloud partners and other affiliated businesses have stood firm against the ban, continuing to support the app in Russia. But if Google steps in and starts calling the shots, that could change very quickly.
Google’shard stance on Chinakeeps virtually all Google business out of the country for similar reasons as Telegram’s fight against Russia. With that in mind, it seems unlikely that the Big G would side with the Russian government over the Telegram ban. However, anything could happen from here on out.
NEXT:Russia wants Telegram removed from Google Play Store
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