January 25, 2024

Tinder Breaks Up with Belarus


Tinder Breaks Up with Belarus
The Tinder app open on a phone. Focal Foto, Flickr.

On January 16, the American company Match Group took Belarus by surprise when it announced that its dating apps Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid will exit the country on February 15, the day after Valentine's Day.

Tinder notified its users that, "As of February 15, if you’re located in Belarus, you won’t be able to use Tinder services or sign into your account." The app suggests that Belarussian love-seekers delete their accounts. Subscriptions that expire before Valentine's Day will not be renewable. Bachelors and bachelorettes will be eligible for a refund if their plans extend past February 15. Tinder encouraged its customers to use purchased features before the app departs, especially "Super Likes," which tells a potential match that a user is very interested in them.

Tinder did not say why it is leaving Belarus. Cultural expert and editor of Belarussian Yearbook Vadim Mozheyko told Deutsche Welle (DW) that operating in a "problematic region" is risky for the dating app's reputation. In addition, issues with payments, due to sanctions on Belarussian banks by the US, may have contributed to the decision to leave. Another red flag for Tinder was how Belarus's security forces has used the app to dig up dirt on its citizens and open criminal cases. 

In February 2023, Alexandra Rybchik was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for a picture of her at a protest found on her Tinder profile. Another man was fined for featuring a picture of the Lithuanian Pahonya emblem. "I don't think Tinder wants to see in the news that someone was arrested for a picture in their service," Mozheyko said, "and it is not entirely clear how the company should act correctly in this case: should they cooperate with authorities, human rights activists? In this case, it is easier to just walk away from the market."

So, how will Belarussians find love now? 

DW spoke to Belarussian Tinder users to get their reactions. Inessa, 27, recently found love on Tinder. She said she did not particularly care about Tinder leaving, but was hopeful local alternatives would soon emerge.

A 33-year-old man from Minsk disagreed. He was upset by Tinder's decision, because the platform made it easy for him to meet girls. But he saw a silver lining: "I saw that Russian celebrities were advertising some new application, just in time." Russian dating apps, such as Mamba, Tabor, and the Ukrainian-founded Pure, are popular in Belarus. But, if not, there's always good-old-fashioned real life.

Tinder and its sister apps left the Russian market on June 30, 2023.

You Might Also Like

Long, Long Repair
  • December 17, 2023

Long, Long Repair

It can take up to a year to get auto parts in Russia, due to Western sanctions.
Repression Impacts Lawyers
  • October 17, 2023

Repression Impacts Lawyers

A court in Moscow has ordered the arrest of lawyers representing Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, charging them with participation in an "extremist community."
Taken from Home to Belarus
  • July 24, 2023

Taken from Home to Belarus

Children from Russian-annexed Ukraine are being sent to camps in Belarus. Many don't return.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955