According to a Russian military blogger, military police are checking soldiers’ devices to ensure that Telegram has been deleted and that Max, a state-controlled messaging platform, has been installed instead.
Bloggers report that enforcement of the new messaging rules is inconsistent. Some units reportedly require soldiers to delete Telegram and switch to Max, while others continue to use Telegram for communication. This uneven enforcement suggests that the orders may be coming from individual units rather than a universal directive from the Defense Ministry.
Earlier, on Feb. 11, Kremlin officials claimed that Russian forces were not using Telegram for frontline communications. However, they later softened those statements after backlash from the Russian military blogger community.
Maksut Shadayev, Russia’s minister of digital development, communications and mass media, later claimed that officials had not made a decision to restrict Telegram in the war zone in Ukraine.
The reported restrictions are notable because Telegram has long been widely used by Russian units for coordination and communication. Blocking the app could further weaken Russian command and control, especially since communication problems worsened after Starlink access was cut off on Feb. 1.