The audience for foreign messaging apps in Russia grew by 26% in the…
The audience for foreign messaging apps in Russia grew by 26% in the second quarter of 2026, with significant increases in users of previously lesser-known platforms like BiP and KakaoTalk, despite overall growth slowing compared to the first quarter. The popularity of blocked services such as Telegram and WhatsApp continues through circumvention tools.
Consensus
- The audience for foreign messaging apps not blocked in Russia grew by 26% in Q2 2026.
- Growth rates slowed compared to the first quarter, when growth was 50%.
- BiP saw a 120% increase in unique Russian users, reaching 4.3 million.
- KakaoTalk's audience grew by 80%, reaching approximately 1.3 million users.
- imo remains the leader in absolute user numbers with 12.2 million users.
- The growth of alternative messaging apps continues despite the blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp in Russia.
- Many Russian users continue to access blocked services using circumvention tools.
Points of divergence
- imo's audience grew by only 1% in Q2 2026, while 'Мегафон' reported a 20% decline among its subscribers. — meduza
- KakaoTalk reached 1.26 million users, and WeChat and Gem Space grew by 17% and 11%, respectively. — kommersant
- The audience of WhatsApp in Russia is 63.5 million, while Telegram's monthly audience is 86.2 million according to Mediascope data. — meduza
Coverage (2 sources)
- «Kommersant»: Audience of foreign messengers in Russia grew by 26%. Telegram remains among the leaders despite being blocked — Meduza
- Interest in exotic messengers among Russians grew by 26% in the second quarter — Коммерсантъ