hedgehog. Investigation - WhatsApp availability for August-October has become high since the beginning of the year.
According to the Internet censorship sensor Ooni, which takes regular measurements from the networks of telecom operators in the Russian Federation, the interruptions in WhatsApp in the last 3 months are minimal in 2026. According to the test results in October and September, about 20% of the connection attempts were completely successful.
More importantly, with measurements that Ooni marks as outliers (yellow area in the graph), the WhatsApp mobile app works normally ("OK" status, the web version doesn't) - unlike the tests with Telegram (the mobile app doesn't connect). In other words, WhatsApp messaging should work for most Russians without a VPN right now.
Russian authorities began blocking WhatsApp audio and video calls in August 2025; In general, RKN started restricting the courier in November 2025.