The Kremlin announced the results of blocking calls on foreign messaging apps.

      23 December 2025, 17:40 Society

      The introduction of restrictions on voice calls in international messengers has helped reduce the number of cyberfraud cases in Russia. This information was announced at a meeting of the central headquarters of the People’s Front by the Head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Projects, Sergey Novikov, 360.ru reports.

      Over the past year Russian pensioners have lost 400 billion rubles to fraudsters, some of which was directed to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Novikov noted that blocking voice calls in foreign messengers contributed to a decrease in such crimes.

      He believes that the measures taken by Roskomnadzor are effective. However, he also pointed to a new problem — an increase in crimes among minors who are being recruited into sabotage activities for payment. Novikov emphasized that digital sovereignty and a reliable domestic communication platform are necessary to address this problem.

      Recall that since August of this year Roskomnadzor has been restricting calls via Telegram and WhatsApp* to combat fraud, extortion, and recruitment into sabotage and terrorist activities.

      *Belongs to Meta, which has been designated an extremist organization and banned in Russia

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