As a busy tour guide in St. Petersburg, Vsevolod Gavrilov never paid much attention to the day's headlines, instead tracking travel influencers on social media platforms and messaging his friends on the Telegram app.
But since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the 37-year-old said he had been trying to find "credible" news sources due to Russian moves to block numerous global and local news sites, along with social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
"Most news sources are blocked, and those that are not blocked don't look credible. Telegram channels have become one of the few ways to find out information," said Gavrilov, who follows pro-Russia, Ukrainian and independent news channels.