Ukraine has banned government officials, soldiers, and critical infrastructure workers from installing the Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices.
In Ukraine, many people use Telegram not only to send personal messages to friends and relatives but also to read news about the war and learn about Russian air attacks.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, alleged that Russian spies were able to access the personal messages of Telegram users, including deleted messages, and their data.
“I have always advocated and advocate freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech, it is a matter of national security,” Budanov said in the statement.
Telegram is being used by Russian intelligence for cyber attacks, phishing, and spreading malware, but also for establishing the location of users and calibrating missile strikes on Ukrainian infantry and artillery positions, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The statement on Facebook reads: “In order to minimize these threats, a decision was made to ban the installation and use of Telegram on the official devices of government officials, military personnel, security and defense sector employees, as well as critical infrastructure operators.”
In the Facebook statement, the National Security and Defense Council’s chairman, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, said a meeting of Ukraine’s National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity (NCCC) was held on Sept. 19 and considered the issue of Telegram.
“As a result of the meeting, it was recommended to limit the use of the Telegram messenger function for official correspondence for official purposes and on official devices,” Lytvynenko said.
“The NCCC’s decision is advisory to the government, but does not apply to the official Telegram channels of public authorities.”
The meeting also included discussion of “issues aimed at strengthening national cyber resilience,” held in a closed session.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation, later posted on Telegram that the restrictions did not apply to personal phones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses Telegram to engage with the public and relay key messages about the war with Russia, which began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to invade Ukraine.
Russian forces are currently advancing on the key town of Pokrovsk, in eastern Ukraine, and earlier this week captured the nearby town of Ukrainsk, which had a pre-war population of 10,000.
Durov left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on another social media platform, VKontakte (VK), which he later sold.
Telegram is based in the United Arab Emirates, although Durov is forbidden from leaving France under the terms of his bail.
That ban was later lifted, and Telegram remains very popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics.
Durov has insisted that the platform retained its independence and said Telegram’s mission was to “protect users in authoritarian regimes.”
Telegram is an app that allows for one-on-one conversations, group chats, and “channels” that can involve hundreds of people.
Unlike Meta’s WhatsApp, which has a group chat limit of 1,024, Telegram’s group chats allow up to 200,000 people.
Telegram claims more than 950 million active users.
