5 POPULAR social networks… created in Russia!

According to ‘Mediascope’ data for 2025, Russians spend an average of just over 4.5 hours a day online. A quarter of this time is spent on social networks and another 20% on messengers.

And although many of the platforms used have been developed abroad, Russians also actively use social networks and messengers created within the country. We’ve highlighted the main ones below.

1.‘VKontakte’ (‘VK’)

‘VK’ or ‘VKontakte’ is the most popular social network in Russia. It was created by Pavel Durov back in 2006 (he later also created the ‘Telegram’ messenger app).
In 2014, the social network was acquired by ‘Mail.ru’, one of Russia’s largest internet companies, which then rebranded itself as ‘VK’ in 2021.
According to ‘Mediascope’, 74% of Russians use ‘VK’ and, in December 2024, its monthly reach was 92 million people.
The platform features its own music service, video hosting, gaming platforms and a vast array of services and mini-apps. ‘VK’ is also now available in 80 languages.
By the way, here’s our page (in Russian) – it has posts, clips, and lots of useful information!

2. ‘Odnoklassniki’ (‘OK’)

Russia’s first social network was created about six months before ‘VKontakte’. According to the company’s data, by the end of 2024, its monthly audience exceeded 36 million users. 

Some of the platform’s unique features are virtual stickers and animated postcards. Between October and December 2024 alone, users sent each other 655 million postcards and 342.5 million stickers. And yes, we also have our own group (in Russian) with stickers! ‘Odnoklassniki’ is also part of the ‘VK’ holding.

3. ‘Dzen’ (dzen.ru)

This platform offers news reviews, blogs and vlogs, short clips and long-form videos. It features personal vlogs by travelers, stylists and writers, as well as media pages (and we also publish interesting content there).

According to ‘Dzen’, in 2024, its daily audience has reached 30 million people, with users spending 63% of their time reading articles and 37% watching videos. Over the past year, more than 1 million new vloggers joined the platform.

Originally developed by IT giant ‘Yandex’, ‘Dzen’ was also acquired by ‘VK’ in Fall 2022.

4. ‘RUTUBE’

This Russian video hosting service was created back in 2006. It now hosts over 415 million videos and 4.2 million channels, featuring everything from user-generated content to TV shows and movies. ‘RUTUBE’ is part of ‘Gazprom-Media’ holding.

‘Mediascope’ reported that, in June 2025, Rutube’s monthly audience exceeded 80.1 million users.

Here’s our channel (in Russian).  

5. MAX

This is a new Russian messenger that appeared in Spring 2025 and has already amassed 2 million users. It was also developed by ‘VK’.

Currently, users can read and create channels, chat and make video calls. In the future, the creators plan to integrate services from the ‘Gosuslugi’ (Government Services) portal and other features.