The Insider and the Kirill Parubets Center have examined how Russian state institutions and pro-war bloggers prepared for the blocking of Telegram in the country, scheduled for April 1, 2026. The study covered the official channels of government agencies and regional authorities that were available in the IONA Flow monitoring system. According to the analyzed data, the move to Max has effectively failed: by the appointed date, the audience of government channels in the new messenger remains negligible compared with that of Telegram.
Law enforcement and government oversight agencies are the most widely represented public sector entities on the platform. Prosecutors’ offices have launched Max channels in 86 of Russia’s 89 regions, while the Ministry of Emergency Situations has done so in 88. Regional governments and the federal Ministry of Internal Affairs are lagging, with Max channels up and running in 62 and 58 regions, respectively. The judicial system remains far behind, with only 14 court channels active on Max nationwide (though that list includes the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Russia).
Despite the efforts of some government bodies, the audience of the new channels remains largely negligible. Prosecutors’ offices have attracted only around 200 to 300 subscribers each. By comparison, Telegram channels run by regional governments averaged between 20,000 and 30,000 subscribers.
Most Russian government bodies continued to actively maintain their Telegram channels up until the last moment. The Supreme Court of Russia published materials on March 31, and regional governments did the same on the eve of the planned block.
Pro-war bloggers adopted Max more actively than officials, but even among them, the migration has been incomplete. One of the most popular pro-war channels, Rybar, gained around 161,000 subscribers on Max, compared with its roughly 1,155,000 on Telegram. Other “war correspondent” channels show a similar pattern: WarGonzo has about 75,000 on Max versus 700,000 on Telegram, and Sladkov has attracted 116,000 Max users versus 711,000 on Telegram. The latest posts on Max from both were dated March 28, while on Telegram they posted as late as the 31st.
The study concludes that, despite administrative pressure, Max had not become a viable alternative to Telegram in Russia by the time of the planned block — neither for government bodies nor for bloggers and media outlets. Most market participants continue to rely on Telegram as their primary platform.
Earlier, Telegram’s press service told The Insider that it could not confirm reports of negotiations with the Russian government, nor of a possible resumption of the messenger’s services in the country. Instead, it emphasized the idea that the right to privacy and freedom of speech are fundamental and cannot be subject to any negotiations.
