Russian soldiers and military bloggers have railed against the Kremlin after it restricted access to the Telegram messaging app.
Widespread disruptions to the app were reported on Monday and Tuesday as Roskomnadzor, the Russian state media regulator, said it would levy its strongest restrictions on Telegram’s operations yet.
The internet watchdog said the move would safeguard Russian citizens against “criminal and terrorist” content, in Moscow’s latest crackdown on the free internet.
Roskomnadzor, which has for years crusaded for a “sovereign internet” liberated from Western influence, has over the past six months imposed new limits on Telegram and WhatsApp at least three times, blocking audio and video calls on both platforms in August.
At least three-quarters of the Russian population above the age of 13 regularly use the app, including the military, Kremlin officials, state media and government bodies – including Roskomnadzor itself.
Units on the frontline in Ukraine are known to use it to communicate strike targets and to track incoming drones.
Most of the Russian population above the age of 13 regularly use the Telegram app – Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg
Coming after Elon Musk’s shutdown of Starlink, the announcement has sparked outcry, particularly among Russia’s vast ecosystem of hawkish military bloggers, who are pro-war and provide constant updates on the conflict on Telegram, but have proved increasingly critical of – and troublesome to – the state.
Milbloggers are a mainstay of the war’s information sphere for ordinary Russians, operating outside the tightly-supervised narratives of state media.
They have a direct line to frontline soldiers, who supply exclusive updates and combat footage, which bloggers turn into fundraising for essential supplies and kit using their platforms carrying audiences of millions.
“Thousands of servicemen will be left without communications, which amid the ongoing offensive will lead to fatal consequences,” warned the Arkhangel Spetsnaza channel, which boasts 1.1 million followers.
Alexander Sladkov, a prominent military correspondent, said: “The West already put us in a two-day knockout with the Starlink outage, and now we’re burying this channel of command and communication too.
“So how exactly are we supposed to win, with what tools? Peanuts and TA-57 [Soviet-era wired analogue] field phones?”
Yegor Kholmogorov, a Russian nationalist Z-blogger, raged: “When some people who came to power out of nowhere start hauling them [Kremlin officials] off to the notorious Hague, no one will so much as utter a peep.”
The ban, announced Tuesday by Roskomnadzor, has reignited debate over how Russia’s sclerotic bureaucracy continues to hobble its war effort. Almost four years into the invasion, the military still lacks a secure, domestically-produced system, remaining dependent on privately-owned communication platforms.
Across much of the Russian army, down to the platoon level, Telegram chats have become ad hoc logistical clearing houses where units can coordinate fundraising and procure munitions and equipment.
The app also appears at higher levels to assemble makeshift “reconnaissance-strike networks” whereby military intelligence can pass target coordinates directly to artillery and aviation units, circumventing formal command channels.
Some raised concerns that Russia’s home air defences could be left flying blind, since mobile teams rely on the app to track Ukrainian long-range drones and coordinate strikes in real time.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod border region, which faces a frequent barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks, said he was concerned that “slowing Telegram channels could affect the delivery of operational information”.
The Kremlin has denied the prevalence of the app among its forces. “I don’t think it’s possible to conceive that frontline communication is managed through Telegram or any other messenger,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, in comments which stoked some derision.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, left, governor of the Belgorod border region, said he was concerned that the ban ‘could affect the delivery of operational information’ – Imago/Alamy
Russian troops previously used the real-time gaming communication platform Discord to livestream drone footage and coordinate assault operations.
An abrupt Discord ban in 2024 sparked fury among frontline troops and baying milbloggers, who decried it as a bureaucratic misstep that stripped units of a crucial battlefield coordination tool.
“It’s called being able to see further than your nose,” one blogger said at the time.
The situation was somewhat mitigated by the fact that Russian soldiers at the front could still access hijacked Starlink satellite internet terminals, which bypassed official sanctions, according to military analyst Kirill Mykhailov.
However, as of early February, a new “whitelist” introduced by Ukraine’s defence ministry led to access to Starlink being cut off for almost 90 per cent of Russian units, sending frontline communication into chaos.
Several bloggers suggested that the Telegram restrictions would further exacerbate the turmoil. “Unfortunately, we can’t shut off Starlink for the Ukrainians. But we can shut off Telegram for the Russians!” one remarked sardonically.
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born and Dubai-based Telegram chief executive, issued a rare rebuke, accusing Moscow of scheming to force citizens onto a “state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship” in reference to the Kremlin-backed MAX messenger, which was launched last year and is modelled on China’s WeChat.
Pavel Durov, the Telegram co-founder, accused Moscow of forcing citizens onto a ‘state-controlled app built for surveillance’ – Giuseppe Cacace/AFP
A source close to the Kremlin told Verstka, an independent investigative outlet, that Moscow plans to block the app in full by September, when State Duma elections are due to be held, in order to limit negative sentiment.
“There’s a sense the Iranian experience with internet shutdowns has inspired our security agencies,” another Kremlin source told Meduza.
Such independent outlets also sounded the alarm that their ability to disseminate independent information within Russia could be choked without Telegram.
“Telegram is vital for us, because the Meduza website is blocked in Russia,” Galina Timchenko, the Meduza co-founder, told the BBC. “More than 80 per cent of our Telegram subscribers live inside Russia and our information is crucial for them.”
Ms Timchenko, who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in absentia in December last year for running an “undesirable” organisation, added: “For our readers, it means that they have to make a difficult choice… If the choice is freedom or news, definitely [they] will choose freedom.”
