Russia has begun blocking Telegram in Ukraine’s occupied territories: what is known
20 March 14:08
Russian authorities have begun blocking Telegram in the occupied territories of Ukraine, despite promises not to impose restrictions in frontline areas.
This was reported byRadio Liberty, citing local residents, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
In the Shchastya district of Luhansk Oblast, users complain that even with a VPN, making a call to territory controlled by Ukraine is practically impossible—the delay reaches 20 seconds, and the connection is completely lost. In chat rooms in the occupied cities of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, there is widespread discussion that the messenger “constantly slows down” and “freezes,” although text messages still get through. Local residents ironically suggest “writing to Putin collectively,” hoping for the restrictions to be lifted.
Problems with Telegram in the occupied territories are occurring against the backdrop of a total slowdown of the messenger in Russia. According to data from the Merilo service, between March 9 and 15, the percentage of failed requests to Telegram domains reached 79.4% (compared to 32.4% a week earlier). Mikhail Klimarev, head of the “Internet Protection Society,” notes that Telegram’s overall availability in Russia has dropped below 75%, meaning that one in four messages does not reach the recipient. Anastasia Bidjelova, director of development at the Telecom Exchange, points out that Telegram is turning into a text-only platform where photos and videos are practically impossible to upload.
Sources in Russian propaganda media previously reported that a complete block of Telegram in Russia is scheduled for April 1, though the messenger will continue to operate in the occupied territories of Ukraine, as Russian troops use it. Following criticism from Z-bloggers, Digital Minister Maksut Shadayev stated that the “SVO zone” would be transitioned to Russian services “gradually.”
However, as Z-channels reported on March 15, Russian military personnel have already begun to be prohibited from using Telegram under threat of being sent into combat. Sources from “Two Majors” claim that units are being required to delete the messenger, with the state service Max being offered as a replacement (though it has also been banned in a number of units).
The FSB previously stated that Telegram poses a danger to the military, as Ukrainian intelligence agencies could obtain data from the messenger. Meanwhile, Z-bloggers warn that blocking Telegram will lead to “fatal consequences” on the front lines, since after the shutdown of Russian Starlink terminals, the messenger remained the primary means of commanding troops. The Kremlin, however, doubts this: the Russian dictator’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, previously stated that he could not “imagine that frontline communications are provided via Telegram.”
