Moscow Court Fines Telegram and Google 3.8 Million Rubles Each

A growing list of penalties

The ruling is far from the first of its kind. In recent months the Tagansky court has ruled against Google under the same article on 3 November, 18 and 29 October and 7 October, as well as several times earlier.

Telegram was also penalised last week. On 3 November the court ordered it to pay more than 11 million rubles, partly for repeated failure to comply with requirements to remove banned information.

Corporate structure in Russia

Telegram Messenger Inc. is part of the international Telegram FZ-LLC group of companies, which has no representative office in Russia. Google's Russian subsidiary, OOO Google, is currently going through bankruptcy proceedings. Receivership has been opened against it and will run until April 2027.

For the platforms, the pattern means a steady stream of fines tied to content moderation demands rather than a single large penalty. With no local presence for Telegram and a insolvent Google subsidiary, the rulings show how Russian courts continue to apply the same administrative rule to foreign services regardless of their local footprint.