diff --git a/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewer.tsx b/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewer.tsx
index 55c824361..daa3260b2 100644
--- a/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewer.tsx
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import { renderMessageText } from '../common/helpers/renderMessageText';
 import useFlag from '../../hooks/useFlag';
 import useForceUpdate from '../../hooks/useForceUpdate';
 import { dispatchHeavyAnimationEvent } from '../../hooks/useHeavyAnimationCheck';
-import useHistoryBack from '../../hooks/useHistoryBack';
 import useLang from '../../hooks/useLang';
 import usePrevious from '../../hooks/usePrevious';
 import { useMediaProps } from './hooks/useMediaProps';
@@ -64,6 +63,7 @@ type StateProps = {
   chatMessages?: Record<number, ApiMessage>;
   collectionIds?: number[];
   animationLevel: AnimationLevel;
+  shouldSkipHistoryAnimations?: boolean;
 };
 
 const ANIMATION_DURATION = 350;
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
   chatMessages,
   collectionIds,
   animationLevel,
+  shouldSkipHistoryAnimations,
 }) => {
   const {
     openMediaViewer,
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
   const animationKey = useRef<number>();
   const prevSenderId = usePrevious<string | undefined>(senderId);
   const headerAnimation = animationLevel === 2 ? 'slide-fade' : 'none';
-  const isGhostAnimation = animationLevel === 2;
+  const isGhostAnimation = animationLevel === 2 && !shouldSkipHistoryAnimations;
 
   /* Controls */
   const [isReportModalOpen, openReportModal, closeReportModal] = useFlag();
@@ -184,12 +185,10 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
     bestImageData, prevBestImageData, dimensions, isVideo, hasFooter,
   ]);
 
-  const close = useCallback(() => {
-    closeMediaViewer();
-  }, [closeMediaViewer]);
+  const handleClose = useCallback(() => closeMediaViewer(), [closeMediaViewer]);
 
   const handleFooterClick = useCallback(() => {
-    close();
+    handleClose();
 
     if (IS_SINGLE_COLUMN_LAYOUT) {
       setTimeout(() => {
@@ -199,7 +198,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
     } else {
       focusMessage({ chatId, threadId, mediaId });
     }
-  }, [close, chatId, threadId, focusMessage, toggleChatInfo, mediaId]);
+  }, [handleClose, chatId, threadId, focusMessage, toggleChatInfo, mediaId]);
 
   const handleForward = useCallback(() => {
     openForwardMenu({
@@ -221,8 +220,8 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
   }, [avatarOwner?.id, chatId, openMediaViewer, origin, threadId]);
 
   useEffect(() => (isOpen ? captureEscKeyListener(() => {
-    close();
-  }) : undefined), [close, isOpen]);
+    handleClose();
+  }) : undefined), [handleClose, isOpen]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (isVideo && !isGif) {
@@ -235,7 +234,6 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
     if (!isOpen) {
       return undefined;
     }
-
     windowSize.disableRefresh();
 
     return () => {
@@ -254,11 +252,6 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
 
   const lang = useLang();
 
-  useHistoryBack({
-    isActive: isOpen,
-    onBack: closeMediaViewer,
-  });
-
   function renderSenderInfo() {
     return avatarOwner ? (
       <SenderInfo
@@ -276,7 +269,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
   }
 
   return (
-    <ShowTransition id="MediaViewer" isOpen={isOpen}>
+    <ShowTransition id="MediaViewer" isOpen={isOpen} noCloseTransition={shouldSkipHistoryAnimations}>
       <div className="media-viewer-head" dir={lang.isRtl ? 'rtl' : undefined}>
         {IS_SINGLE_COLUMN_LAYOUT && (
           <Button
@@ -285,7 +278,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
             size="smaller"
             color="translucent-white"
             ariaLabel={lang('Close')}
-            onClick={close}
+            onClick={handleClose}
           >
             <i className="icon-close" />
           </Button>
@@ -300,7 +293,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
           fileName={fileName}
           canReport={canReport}
           onReport={openReportModal}
-          onCloseMediaViewer={close}
+          onCloseMediaViewer={handleClose}
           onForward={handleForward}
           zoomLevelChange={zoomLevelChange}
           setZoomLevelChange={setZoomLevelChange}
@@ -328,7 +321,7 @@ const MediaViewer: FC<StateProps> = ({
         zoomLevelChange={zoomLevelChange}
         isVideo={isVideo}
         animationLevel={animationLevel}
-        onClose={close}
+        onClose={handleClose}
         selectMedia={selectMedia}
         onFooterClick={handleFooterClick}
       />
@@ -349,16 +342,18 @@ export default memo(withGlobal(
       animationLevel,
     } = global.settings.byKey;
 
+    const { shouldSkipHistoryAnimations } = global;
+
     let isChatWithSelf = !!chatId && selectIsChatWithSelf(global, chatId);
 
     if (origin === MediaViewerOrigin.SearchResult) {
       if (!(chatId && mediaId)) {
-        return { animationLevel };
+        return { animationLevel, shouldSkipHistoryAnimations };
       }
 
       const message = selectChatMessage(global, chatId, mediaId);
       if (!message) {
-        return { animationLevel };
+        return { animationLevel, shouldSkipHistoryAnimations };
       }
 
       return {
@@ -369,6 +364,7 @@ export default memo(withGlobal(
         origin,
         message,
         animationLevel,
+        shouldSkipHistoryAnimations,
       };
     }
 
@@ -383,11 +379,12 @@ export default memo(withGlobal(
         isChatWithSelf,
         animationLevel,
         origin,
+        shouldSkipHistoryAnimations,
       };
     }
 
     if (!(chatId && threadId && mediaId)) {
-      return { animationLevel };
+      return { animationLevel, shouldSkipHistoryAnimations };
     }
 
     let message: ApiMessage | undefined;
@@ -398,7 +395,7 @@ export default memo(withGlobal(
     }
 
     if (!message) {
-      return { animationLevel };
+      return { animationLevel, shouldSkipHistoryAnimations };
     }
 
     let chatMessages: Record<number, ApiMessage> | undefined;
@@ -429,6 +426,7 @@ export default memo(withGlobal(
       chatMessages,
       collectionIds,
       animationLevel,
+      shouldSkipHistoryAnimations,
     };
   },
 )(MediaViewer));
diff --git a/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewerSlides.tsx b/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewerSlides.tsx
index 934bd09e5..9c2382793 100644
--- a/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewerSlides.tsx
+++ b/src/components/mediaViewer/MediaViewerSlides.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import useLang from '../../hooks/useLang';
 import usePrevious from '../../hooks/usePrevious';
 import useTimeout from '../../hooks/useTimeout';
 import useWindowSize from '../../hooks/useWindowSize';
+import useHistoryBack from '../../hooks/useHistoryBack';
 
 import MediaViewerContent from './MediaViewerContent';
 
@@ -104,6 +105,12 @@ const MediaViewerSlides: FC<OwnProps> = ({
 
   const lang = useLang();
 
+  useHistoryBack({
+    isActive: isOpen,
+    onBack: onClose,
+    shouldBeReplaced: true,
+  });
+
   const setTransform = useCallback((value: Transform) => {
     transformRef.current = value;
     forceUpdate();
@@ -370,7 +377,7 @@ const MediaViewerSlides: FC<OwnProps> = ({
         onUpdate: (value) => setTransform({
           y: 0,
           x: value,
-          scale: transformRef.current.scale,
+          scale: transformRef.current?.scale ?? 1,
         }),
       });
     };
diff --git a/src/components/ui/ShowTransition.tsx b/src/components/ui/ShowTransition.tsx
index 530c3e865..e33d4e4c3 100644
--- a/src/components/ui/ShowTransition.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ui/ShowTransition.tsx
@@ -11,14 +11,24 @@ type OwnProps = {
   id?: string;
   className?: string;
   onClick?: (e: React.MouseEvent<HTMLElement, MouseEvent>) => void;
+  noCloseTransition?: boolean;
   children: React.ReactNode;
 };
 
 const ShowTransition: FC<OwnProps> = ({
-  isOpen, isCustom, id, className, onClick, children,
+  isOpen,
+  isCustom,
+  id,
+  className,
+  onClick,
+  noCloseTransition,
+  children,
 }) => {
-  const { shouldRender, transitionClassNames } = useShowTransition(
-    isOpen, undefined, undefined, isCustom ? false : undefined,
+  const {
+    shouldRender,
+    transitionClassNames,
+  } = useShowTransition(
+    isOpen, undefined, undefined, isCustom ? false : undefined, noCloseTransition,
   );
   const prevIsOpen = usePrevious(isOpen);
   const prevChildren = usePrevious(children);
diff --git a/src/hooks/useHistoryBack.ts b/src/hooks/useHistoryBack.ts
index 769fbb9f7..f28f67021 100644
--- a/src/hooks/useHistoryBack.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/useHistoryBack.ts
@@ -142,12 +142,15 @@ function cleanupClosed(alreadyClosedCount = 1) {
 
 function cleanupTrashedState() {
   // Navigation to previous page reload, state of which was trashed by reload
+  let isAnimationDisabled = false;
   for (let i = historyState.length - 1; i > 0; i--) {
     if (historyState[i].isClosed) {
       continue;
     }
-    if (isSafariGestureAnimation) {
+    // TODO[history]: probably we should not call this inside the loop
+    if (!isAnimationDisabled && isSafariGestureAnimation) {
       getActions().disableHistoryAnimations();
+      isAnimationDisabled = true;
     }
     historyState[i].onBack?.();
   }
@@ -188,13 +191,16 @@ window.addEventListener('popstate', ({ state }: PopStateEvent) => {
   if (index < historyCursor) {
     // Navigating back
     let alreadyClosedCount = 0;
+    let isAnimationDisabled = false;
     for (let i = historyCursor; i > index - alreadyClosedCount; i--) {
       if (historyState[i].isClosed) {
         alreadyClosedCount++;
         continue;
       }
-      if (isSafariGestureAnimation) {
+      // TODO[history]: probably we should not call this inside the loop
+      if (!isAnimationDisabled && isSafariGestureAnimation) {
         getActions().disableHistoryAnimations();
+        isAnimationDisabled = true;
       }
       historyState[i].onBack?.();
     }