Foreign messaging app audience in Russia grows 26%

The combined audience of foreign messaging apps that remain unblocked in Russia grew 26% in the second quarter of 2026, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported, citing a study by mobile operator MTS AdTech.

The Turkish app BiP led the field, with its number of unique users in Russia jumping 120% to reach 4.3 million. The South Korean app KakaoTalk came in second, its audience growing 80% to nearly 1.3 million people. Growth slowed from the first quarter, when the audience for foreign messaging apps had grown 50% from the previous period.

The American app imo remains the overall leader with 12.2 million users, though its audience grew just 1% in the second quarter. Other members of Russia's "big four" mobile operators — Beeline, MegaFon, and T2 — also confirm continued growth in the Russian audience for alternative messaging apps. MegaFon, for example, noted its subscribers' use of imo fell 20%.

Still, all these services combined hold only a small share of the market compared with Telegram and the Max messenger, according to Kommersant. Mediascope data showed their monthly audiences in June stood at 75.7 million and 86.2 million people, respectively, while WhatsApp's audience came in at 63.5 million. Both WhatsApp and Telegram remain almost completely blocked in the country.

The Russian audience for two of the country's most popular foreign messaging apps, Telegram and WhatsApp, has begun gradually declining since Russian authorities effectively blocked them. Still, a significant share of users continue to reach the apps by finding ways around the blocks. Meanwhile, the audience for previously little-known messaging apps that have so far escaped being blocked has kept growing over the past year. Interest in them picked up after Roskomnadzor banned calls on Telegram and WhatsApp in August 2025.