"Following the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, access to the Instagram social network (...) will be restricted in Russia," Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor said in a statement.
Sites or applications with limited access generally become largely inaccessible.
This is already the case for Facebook and Twitter, which were targeted by this same restriction measure after the start of the military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
Earlier on Friday, Russian authorities announced that they were taking legal action against Meta Group, the house that owns Instagram, as well as Facebook and WhatsApp, accusing it of spreading "calls for murder" against Russians.
Meta announced on Thursday that it would make exceptions to its policy on incitement to violence and hatred by not deleting messages hostile to the Russian army and leaders, amid international outrage over Moscow's offensive. in Ukraine.
Instagram is extremely popular with Russian youth.
Above all, it has also become a crucial online sales tool for many Russian small and medium-sized businesses, as well as artists and artisans, who depend on their visibility on this platform for a living.
Instagram is also one of the social networks most used by Russian opponents, like Alexei Navalny, a pet peeve of the Kremlin whose team continues to publish messages despite his imprisonment for more than a year.
Russia is one of the most restrictive countries in terms of freedom of the press and expression, and the situation has deteriorated further in recent weeks with the blocking of most of the remaining independent media.
© 2022 AFP