*

WhatsApp says Russia is trying to block its service

*

Millions of Russians use WhatsApp, Telegram every day

*

Moscow says WhatsApp, Telegram are not cooperating with

police

*

Government urges Russians to migrate to new, state-backed

app

(Rewrites, adds bullet points, detail throughout)

MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - WhatsApp accused Moscow of

trying to block millions of Russians from accessing secure

communication after calls on the messaging app were restricted,

as Russia promotes home-grown social media platforms and seeks

greater control over the country's internet space.

Russia said on Wednesday that it had started restricting some

WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms ( META ), and Telegram calls,

accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share

information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.

Text messaging services and voice notes are currently

unaffected.

A simmering dispute with foreign tech providers intensified

after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Russia

blocking Meta's Facebook and Instagram, slowing the speed of

Alphabet's YouTube and issuing hundreds of fines to

platforms that failed to comply with Russian rules on online

content and data storage.

"WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies

government attempts to violate people's right to secure

communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from

over 100 million Russian people," WhatsApp said late on

Wednesday.

"We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted

communication available to people everywhere, including in

Russia."

Telegram said its moderators were using AI tools to monitor

public parts of the platform to remove millions of malicious

messages every day.

"Telegram actively combats harmful use of its platform

including calls for sabotage or violence and fraud," Telegram

said.

In July 2025, WhatsApp's monthly reach in Russia was 97.3

million people, compared to 90.8 million for Telegram, according

to Mediascope data. Third-placed VK Messenger, an offering from

state-controlled tech company VK, reached 17.9 million

people.

Russia has a population of more than 140 million people.

STEADY DEGRADATION

Russia banning WhatsApp and Telegram users from making calls

comes as the government is actively promoting a new

state-controlled messaging app, MAX, that will be integrated

with government services and which critics fear could track its

users' activities.

Senior politicians are migrating to MAX, urging their

followers to come with them.

Anton Gorelkin, a leading regulator of Russia's IT sector in

parliament, said he would post to his MAX followers first and

said many other lawmakers would soon follow suit.

WhatsApp's other services remain available for now, but the

steady degradation of a service is a tactic Russia has employed

before, notably with YouTube, where slower download speeds have

made it harder for people to access content.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Russia has

been "meticulously expanding legal and technological tools

to carve out Russia's section of the internet into a tightly

controlled and isolated forum".

Lawmakers have approved a new law that tightens censorship and

could have sweeping ramifications for digital privacy, with

Russians facing fines if they search online for content Moscow

considers "extremist", including via virtual private networks

that millions use to bypass internet blocks.