Russian Orthodox Priest Urges People to Pray for End to Telegram Messenger App Ban

A Russian Orthodox Church priest has urged believers to pray for the unblocking of Telegram, after Russia’s communications regulator moved to tighten restrictions on the messaging platform, The Moscow Times reported on February 13.

Alexander Mikushin, a priest at the Pokrovsky Cathedral in the city of Barnaul, said Russians should “ask God” to bring “wisdom” to officials at Roskomnadzor  who approved the decision to block the service. Mikushin described Telegram as more than a communication tool, calling it a space “for prayer, heartfelt conversation, and helping one’s neighbor.”

He even published a prayer appealing for officials to reconsider. “Lord, grant wisdom, patience, and discernment to employees of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Communications… Enlighten them, Lord, for the good of the people and for Your glory,” the text reads.

Roskomnadzor announced on February 10 that it was stepping up measures against Telegram and preparing to block it, citing the platform’s repeated failure to comply with Russian law. By February 13, access problems had been recorded in 64 regions across Russia, according to monitoring estimates cited by The Moscow Times.

Telegram has become one of Russia’s most widely used digital platforms. Data from MTS AdTech, advertising division of mobile provider MTS showed its Russian audience rising to 105 million users in November, up from 91 million in October, a surge that followed the slowdown of WhatsApp. WhatsApp was fully blocked in Russia on February 11, further accelerating Telegram’s growth.

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Telegram also was a critical tool for Russian forces invading Ukraine, but recent outages appeared to create vulnerabilities for ther Russians on the battlefield. Previous reports have indicated that Ukrainian troops were launching localized counterattacks near the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, aiming to capitalize on disruptions to Russian communications and Starlink terminals and Telegram.

Mikushin has previously spoken out against online restrictions. In 2018, he participated in a rally “For a Free Internet” supporting individuals prosecuted over memes on VKontakte. After his latest remarks, a senior church official urged clergy not to frame Telegram’s blocking in religious terms, The Moscow Times wrote.

Earlier, a senior cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church had blamed the continuation of Russia’s war against Ukraine on occult practices and abortions.

Bishop Pitirim (Tvorogov), who heads the Skopin Diocese, said the pursuit of peace was being obstructed by what he described as a surge in “unclean forces” summoned by Russians turning to magic and esotericism.

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