Ukrainian military and civil servants restricted from using Telegram

Restrictions on the use of Telegram have been introduced in Ukraine. The National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity (NCCC) has decided to limit the use of the Telegram messenger within government agencies, military formations, and critical infrastructure facilities. The decision was made on Friday, 20 September.

During the NSDC meeting, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, presented substantiated evidence that Russian intelligence services have access to Telegram users’ personal correspondence. These include deleted messages, as well as their personal data.

“I have always advocated for freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not about freedom of speech—it’s a matter of national security», — he emphasized.

At the same time, representatives of the Security Service and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Russia actively uses Telegram for cyberattacks. They eare mploying phishing, spreading malware, tracking users’ geolocation, and adjusting missile strikes, among other activities.

In light of this, the NCCC decided to ban the installation and use of Telegram on official devices used by government officials and military personnel. Employees of the security and defense sector, and workers in critical infrastructure enterprises were also restricted in usage.

However, the restriction does not apply to individuals for whom the use of Telegram is part of their official duties.

Discussions on Banning Telegram in Ukraine

On 14 February, Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, warned that the platform poses “a number of threats to Ukraine.” According to him, the threat to national security comes from the platform itself.

In late winter, the Ukrainian parliament discussed concerns over Telegram. The platform hosts a significant amount of Russian propaganda. Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, head of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, told Hromadske Radio that the administrators of Telegram and TikTok do not cooperate with Ukrainian authorities. They fail to block openly pro-Russian propaganda channels.

“We are exploring ‘soft action’ mechanisms. If we don’t find any, the competent authorities will take more drastic measures to regulate Telegram’s activities», — Yurchyshyn said.

On 25 March, the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft law titled «On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Regulation of the Activity of Platforms for Shared Access to Information through which Mass Information is Disseminated.» The law’s initiators proposed regulating the platform.

On 19 May, Defence Intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov reiterated that Telegram’s operations in Ukraine needed regulation. He mentioned that military intelligence had repeatedly recorded instances of cooperation between the platform’s development team and Russian special services.

On 5 August, Mykyta Poturaiev, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, stated that Telegram should be shut down. This is due to the threats it poses to Ukraine.

On 7 September, Kyrylo Budanov acknowledged that banning Telegram would be technically difficult. Instead he suggested that de-anonymizing the channels on the platform would be a better approach.

Opinion polls indicate that the majority of Ukrainians oppose regulating Telegram. If the platform is blocked, many Ukrainians would likely use tools to circumvent the ban and continue using the messenger.