‘Russian Telegram blockade leads to non-functioning Google and Amazon services’

Russia started blocking the Telegram chat app on Monday and this blockage also appears to have consequences for various online services from Google and Amazon. Users report, for example, online games and apps that no longer work.

Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom watchdog, has blocked a total of about 1.8 million IP addresses belonging to Amazon and Google, according to the Russian website Meduza. More than a million IP addresses of Google servers have been blocked, while some 800,000 Amazon Web Services server addresses have been banned. The blocking of these IP addresses has been put in place because Telegram has started using servers from Amazon and Google in an attempt to evade the ban.

Because so many IP addresses are blocked, the blocking of Telegram also has consequences for internet users who want to use certain services from Amazon and Google. A user reports on Twitter that a number of online games no longer work due to Amazon’s blocking of IP addresses. A other user reports that the blockade has also paralyzed two mobile providers.

On Friday, the Moscow Court ruled that Telegram should be blocked in Russia. The court reached this verdict following a request from Roskomnadzor. The telecom watchdog’s wish to block the chat app is related to Telegram’s refusal to hand over the private keys to intelligence service FSB. These keys allow agencies to access Telegram users’ communications.

The blockade went into effect on Monday, with Roskomnadzor allegedly requesting Google and Apple to remove Telegram from the Play Store and the App Store. The Apkmirror site claims to have received a request from Roskomnadzor to make the Telegram apk inaccessible to Russian users. The regulator is now investigating the use of proxies and VPN services, with which the blockade of Telegram can be circumvented. The agency may also take measures against these services.