Kyiv [Ukraine], September 22: Ukraine has banned government and military officials from using the Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices because of concerns about Russian surveillance.
The National Security and Defence Council announced the restrictions on Friday after 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. The ban was a "matter of national security", it added.
Telegram is heavily used in both Ukraine and Russia and has become a critical source of information since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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 Telegram. Officials who use Telegram as part of their duties will not be affected by the new ban.
Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born 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 later sold.
Durov was arrested in France last month and charged with publishing illegal content on the platform. The council statement said Budanov had provided evidence that Russian special services could access Telegram messages, including deleted ones, as well as users' personal data.
Source: Qatar Tribune