Telegram’s Durov says Russia triggered payment system problem by blocking VPNs

Telegram’s ​billionaire founder, Pavel Durov, said on Saturday that ⁠Russia’s attempt to block Virtual Private Networks (VPN) triggered a problem with a domestic payment system, adding that tens of millions of Russians ‌were resisting digital controls.

Russia has repeatedly blocked mobile internet and granted sweeping powers to cut ‌off mass communications while jamming messenger services and VPNs ‌in ⁠what diplomats have called a “great crackdown”.

Friday’s technical problem, ⁠which Russia has yet to fully explain, sowed chaos for some shoppers, forcing the Moscow metro to allow entry without payment through its ​turnstiles, while a regional zoo ‌had to ask visitors to use cash.

“Welcome back to the Digital Resistance, my Russian brothers and sisters,” Durov said on Telegram. “The entire nation is now mobilised ‌to bypass these absurd restrictions.”

Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, ​said there was a technical issue on Friday but gave no details. Some Russian media ⁠deleted reports that the outage stemmed from state bids to block certain sites or VPNs.

Russian officials say the clampdown ‌on VPNs and messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram is essential for security as Moscow faces deadly attacks deep inside Russia from Ukraine and alleged attempts at sabotage by Western intelligence agencies.

Russia has slowed down Telegram, which has more than 1 billion active users and ‌is also widely used in Ukraine, and investigated Durov in a ​criminal case involving accusations of terrorism.

Russian officials said Telegram had been penetrated by Ukraine and NATO member ⁠intelligence agencies, and that Russian soldiers had died as a ⁠result.

Telegram has denied such penetration, saying Moscow is trying to force Russians to use MAX, a ‌state-backed messenger app schools and universities have been told to use.

The Kremlin’s push towards such an app ​upset some Russians, Reuters reported on Friday.