A popular application developed in Russia, Telega, which allowed users to access Telegram even in the face of blocks, announced that it will cease operations on July 1, 2026. The announcement was made by the creators on their official website, who also promised refunds to active Telega Plus subscribers.
In a statement, the developers explained the decision, stating: “We were unable to ensure full localization and compliance with all current requirements in the Telegram client format, including due to external restrictions from technology platforms, including its removal from the App Store.” They indicated that these difficulties were crucial to the deactivation.
Telega is an unofficial client of the Telegram messaging application, created in Russia with the main objective of bypassing blocks imposed on the communication platform without the need for a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The trajectory of rise and the challenges faced by Telega
Existing alongside other unofficial clients such as Vidogram, Nicegram and Swiftgram, Telega has gained great visibility in Russia. The program was developed based on open source and worked by connecting directly to the original Telegram servers.
Its relevance began to grow intensely in the context of the blockade implemented by Roskomnadzor, the Russian regulatory agency, which imposed slowdowns on Telegram for its refusal to adhere to local laws. Limitations on Telegram’s calling features intensified in 2025, in an initiative to combat fraud, and photo and video sharing was also restricted in January 2026, solidifying the demand for alternatives like Telega.
The company itself announced that the application surpassed the one million download mark and reached the top of the Russian application store RuStore. Furthermore, experts highlighted as a notable achievement the fact that Telega reached one million installs on Google Play in less than a year and temporarily occupied the position of most downloaded application in the Russian App Store in February 2026.
However, in April 2026, the app was noted to have disappeared from Apple’s App Store, as reported by CNews. In the same month, Telegram began issuing alerts for user accounts connecting through unofficial clients and mirror servers, leading cybersecurity experts to advise exclusive use of official messaging apps.
There was a period when Cloudflare Radar classified Telega domains as spyware, and GlobalSign, an international certification authority, revoked the application’s TLS certificate, essential for secure HTTPS connections. However, just a few days later, Cloudflare removed the spyware classification after Telega developers reached out and provided the necessary information about their operations.
Questions about Telega’s financial connections and origin
The ultimate beneficiaries of JSC Telega have not been made public, but Kazan businessmen Fanis Sadykov and Alexander Smirnov have openly identified themselves as the founders of the project.
A financial report by JSC Telega (formerly Dal JSC) revealed that the company received almost 200 million rubles from its founders in 2025. At the end of that year, the startup recorded a net loss of 91 million rubles, the result of huge investments in software development and payroll, while its revenue barely exceeded 100 thousand rubles. The company detailed that the investment in software development amounted to 41 million rubles and the acquisition of office equipment amounted to 2 million rubles.
Discussions about the application’s possible relationship with the VK group
In mid-2025, public debates emerged about the possibility of Telega being a new project by VK, one of Russia’s largest technology groups. This hypothesis was raised by programmer Dmitry Tarasenko, who introduced himself as a former Telegram developer, when analyzing Telega’s source code and finding direct references to VK resources. He even pointed out that Telega’s voice calling functionality operated using servers from the social network Odnoklassniki, belonging to VK.
CNews investigated and discovered that in March 2025, changes were made to the statutes of Telega JSC. These modifications allowed the creation of a board of directors, but with clear limitations: the board could only approve transactions above 2 million rubles if they were not carried out with legal entities that were part of the VK International Public Joint-Stock Company (IPJSC), as expressed in the document itself.
Despite the speculation and evidence found, VK publicly denied any involvement or connection with Telega.
In response to questions from CNews about the VK connection, Telega’s press office stated: “Telega is an independent project developed by a team of developers from Kazan. We are not a product of VK or any other company. At the same time, like many IT companies, we use individual technological solutions from various suppliers, including VK, under standard commercial terms.” The aforementioned statutory clause was explained as “technical in nature and related to procurement procedures.”