The reason for the blocking of WhatsApp in Russia was the leak of negotiations between the president’s aide on international affairs, Yuri Ushakov, the U.S. president’s special representative Steve Witkoff, and Kirill Dmitriev, Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the IT Committee of the Russian State Duma, wrote on his “Telegram” channel, APA’s Moscow bureau reports.
He stated that, according to the information he has, the fact that diplomatic negotiations were leaked became an additional trigger for accelerating extreme measures against WhatsApp: “It was concluded that not only do the owners of the messenger turn a blind eye to its illegal use, but they themselves actively participate in it.”
It should be noted that on November 25, Bloomberg published the transcript of conversations between Putin’s aide Ushakov, Witkoff, and Dmitriev. The next day, Ushakov confirmed that he had held some discussions with U.S. representatives via WhatsApp.
On Friday, November 28, Roskomnadzor announced that it had imposed restrictions on WhatsApp “due to legal violations” and recommended switching to “national services.” The agency stated that if the requirements are not met, the messenger will be completely blocked in Russia.
Recall that for several days there have been interruptions in the operation of “WhatsApp” in Russia, with users complaining about problems sending messages and voice files. Although calls via the messenger were blocked in August this year, there were no restrictions on messaging and voice messages.
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