Nearly half of Russians (49%) continue to read Telegram channels, and 20% of them do so daily or several times a day, according to a survey conducted by the Levada Center.
The survey was conducted from March 18 to 26, 2026, that is, at a time when Telegram was almost completely blocked in Russia.
14% of respondents said they read Telegram channels almost every day, and 15% do so “at least once a week.” 51% of respondents said they read Telegram channels less or not at all.
A year ago, in March 2025, 25% of those surveyed by the Levada Center said that they read Telegram channels daily or several times a day, another 14% said that they do so almost every day, and another 14% – at least once a week (for a total of 53%).
72% of respondents read news online (including 31% daily, 20% almost every day, and at least once a week). As Levada notes, this number grew throughout the observation period and reached a peak in March 2025 – 76%. Over the past year, the proportion of those who read news online fell by 4 percentage points.
For the majority of survey respondents (61%), television remains the main source of information. This number has remained virtually unchanged since spring 2023. 38% of respondents cited social media as their main source of information. The percentage of Russians whose main source of information is online publications and Telegram channels decreased during the year from 30% to 27% and 25%, respectively.
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Roskomnadzor officially announced the strengthening of the Telegram ban in early February 2026. The media wrote that by April 1, Telegram will be completely blocked in Russia. It seems that this did not happen, but in fact, the messenger has not worked for the majority of Russian users without a VPN since mid-March.