Ukraine bans official use of Telegram app over fears of Russian spying

KYIV - Ukraine has banned use of the Telegram messaging app on official devices used by state officials, military personnel and critical workers because it believes Russia can spy on both messages and users, a top security body said on Sept 20.

The National Security and Defence Council announced the restrictions after Lieutenant-General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, presented the council with evidence of Russian special services' ability to snoop on the platform, it said in a statement.

But Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, head of the security council's centre on countering disinformation, posted on Telegram that the restrictions apply only to official devices, not personal phones.

Telegram is heavily used in both Ukraine and Russia and has become a critical source of information since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But Ukrainian security officials had repeatedly voiced concerns about its use during the war.

Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which he has sold.

Durov was arrested upon landing in France in August as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on Telegram.

The security council statement said Lt-Gen Budanov had provided evidence that Russian special services could access Telegram messages, including deleted ones, as well as users' personal data.

Said Lt-Gen Budanov in his own statement: “I have always supported and continue to support freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech, it is a matter of national security.”

After the decision was announced, Telegram issued a statement saying it had never disclosed anyone’s data or the contents of any message.

“Telegram has never provided any messaging data to any country, including Russia. Deleted messages are deleted forever and are technically impossible to recover,” Telegram said.

It said every instance of what it described as “leaked messages” had been proven to be “the result of a compromised device, whether through confiscation or malware”.

According to the Telemetrio database, about 33,000 Telegram channels are active in Ukraine. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who sits on the security council, as well as military commanders and regional and city officials, all regularly publish updates on the war and report important decisions on their Telegram channels.

Ukrainian media has estimated that 75 per cent of Ukrainians use the app for communication, and found that 72 per cent saw it as a key source of information as at the end of 2023. REUTERS