The authors of Vladimir Putin’s speeches are urgently trying to “repair” the president’s image, which has been affected by the most significant drop in ratings in the last eight years, against the backdrop of internet restrictions and the blocking of Telegram.
Speaking on Monday before the Council of Legislators, Putin made an unexpected appeal to senators and deputies to avoid new bans and restrictions, the number of which has significantly increased since the beginning of the war.
“The legislative process must be systematic and, I would add, creative, oriented not only towards adapting to current challenges and risks — sometimes unprecedented — but also towards overcoming them. But an exclusive focus on prohibitions, restrictions, and new punitive measures for violations, although to some extent necessary for the protection of citizens’ interests, is counterproductive,” Putin declared.
“Excessive barriers hinder development. All these are temporary phenomena, fleeting, and Russia is eternal,” added the leader from the Kremlin.
According to the analysis conducted by Faridaily, last year the State Duma of Russia adopted a record proportion of restrictive and repressive laws — 13.8%. In February 2026, Putin also signed a law allowing the FSB to interrupt communications and internet access “for security reasons”. During the same period, Roskomnadzor began blocking Telegram, the most popular messaging service in Russia, with an audience of approximately 100 million users.
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