WhatsApp, the US-based instant messaging service, issued a statement on Thursday, claiming that the Russian government is attempting to “fully block” the app in the country. The company further added that with the ban, the government is driving Russian residents to use a state-owned platform, which WhatsApp is calling a “surveillance app”. This comes months after a report pointed out that the Russian communication regulator had imposed a partial ban on WhatsApp and Telegram’s voice calling services.