Press Release, 31 March 2026

Photo by Yevgeny Razumny, Kommersant

Students at the Vladivostok Hydrometeorological College (VGMK) have been contacting the Yabloko regional branch in the Maritime Territory in large numbers to complain about being pressured to install the “national messenger” MAX. The party’s branch in the Maritime Territory notes that complaints have also been received from members of staff of the institution.

The VGMK administration and teaching staff are requiring students to install state-owned messenger MAX on their personal mobile devices and to maintain activity on the platform, compelling them to communicate on all matters relating to the educational process exclusively via the state-owned messenger. This is set out in a letter from Marina Zheleznyakova, leader of Maritime Territory Yabloko, addressed to college director Oleg Kritsky and to the Maritime Territory Minister of Education, Elvira Shamonova.

In the letter, Zheleznyakova asks for clarification on the following points:

– whether the use of MAX is strictly mandatory and which regulatory act governs its use in the educational process;

– whether there are “formally established or unwritten instructions” for teaching staff requiring them to maintain a certain level of activity on MAX;

– and whether the college imposes any restrictions on the use of alternative means of communication between participants in the educational process — such as other messaging applications, mobile calls, or email.

It should be noted that, according to the VGMK website, the college is the only institution in the Russian Far East that trains specialists for the Hydrometeorological Service. The media had not previously reported on the imposition of the so-called “national messenger” MAX at this institution. However, similar reports concerning other educational establishments, including some of the country’s leading universities, have been appearing in the media since October 2025.

It should be also recalled that Yabloko representatives have on numerous occasions called for an explanation of the reasons behind this aggressive campaign to promote MAX, including in the wake of reports that the messaging application Telegram was facing an imminent block.

Following 10 February, when Roskomnadzor (еру Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications) first announced restrictions on Telegram’s operation, Yabloko Сhairman Nikolai Rybakov demanded an end (https://eng.yabloko.ru/37333-2/ ) to the curtailment of citizens’ lawful right to use the means of communication of their choice. Yabloko subsequently held actions in support of Telegram in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Veliky Novgorod. The leader of Pskov Yabloko, deputy of the Pskov Region Assembly of Deputies, Arthur Gaiduk, called on the Federal Antimonopoly Service to investigate the “undue advantages” (https://eng.yabloko.ru/36431-2/ ) enjoyed by MAX in the context of the throttling of Telegram, whilst the Chair of the Yabloko branch in Udmurtia, Iya Boronina, demanded that the legal acts issued by the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor that had authorised the throttling of Telegram be made public (https://eng.yabloko.ru/37356-2/ ). St. Petersburg Yabloko Deputy Chairman Dmitry Anisimov described the imposition of MAX as “state-sponsored stalking” (https://t.me/yabloko_party/6210 ).