Moscow’s ban of messaging app, in bid to counter information getting into enemy hands, has hampered troops’ ability to fight
Verity Bowman
20 March 2026
The Telegraph
On the front line, Russian soldiers’ phones are smashed, abandoned and nailed to trees.
The offence? Using a messaging app available throughout the world.
For many troops, disobeying a new Russian law to access Telegram carries a deadly price: a “one-way ticket” into Russia’s notorious “meat grinder” assaults.
Leaked orders from the Russian ministry of defence reveal that Telegram has been banned immediately for operational use by Russian forces in Ukraine – a major blow to soldiers who depend on the app to co-ordinate and carry out assaults on the front lines.
According to the documents, the orders are intended to “counter enemy technical reconnaissance means”, as well as possible “leakage channels” and prevent the disclosure of information that could threaten the “special military operation”.
The use of the app will now be classed as a “gross disciplinary offence” – a serious infraction with a heavy price to pay.
Russian war bloggers claim that military personnel are now checking soldiers’ phones routinely, with anyone found to be using Telegram having their phone destroyed and sent on an assault mission they describe as a “one-way trip”.
The ban has delivered a severe blow to Russian troops, who depend on Telegram to exchange intelligence, co-ordinate assaults, and share real-time updates critical to the effectiveness of their operations.
“Losing a capability like Telegram, given how widely it’s used by Russian forces, could have a serious impact on their ability to fight,” Dr Thomas Withington, associate fellow in military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), told The Telegraph.
“It hampers your ability to co-ordinate, to adapt, and ultimately to fight, and in doing so, it hands your adversary a built-in speed advantage.”
One of the world’s largest messaging platforms with more than a billion users, Telegram is lauded as a secure space for communication.
Its hands-off moderation and claims of being technologically impenetrable have made it the go-to platform for those operating at the edges of the law.
It has proved a critical communications tool for governments, militaries and civilians alike – from official channels in Russia and Ukraine to protest movements in Hong Kong, Iran and Belarus.
Tensions have long simmered between Pavel Durov, Telegram’s Russian billionaire founder, and the government of his home country.
Mr Durov now faces pressure on two fronts: in the West, speculation continues that he maintains ties to Moscow, which he denies, while in Russia, he is confronted with a criminal case accusing him of aiding terrorism and allowing Telegram to be used by Western intelligence.
In recent months, Russia has repeatedly restricted the app in an effort to push users toward a state-run messenger known as MAX.
The move forms part of a broader digital crackdown by Moscow, with services such as WhatsApp and FaceTime also throttled amid growing signs of public discontent.
The government appears to be moving towards a China-style model of internet control, aimed at suppressing online criticism of the state and tightening its grip over the Kremlin’s narrative of the war.
But on the front line, it is too little, too late: Telegram has already become a vital tool in Russia’s war effort.
“Telegram is frequently used within the Russian military due to the inefficiency of the Russian army’s standard communications system and its convenience, as private messages allow for the immediate sharing of photos and videos, and the precise transmission of geolocation,” explained Solomiya Khoma, co-founder and head of international cooperation of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre.
The reliance on the app highlights how Russian forces have been forced to adapt informal tools for war – just as they have on the ground, improvising with everything from electric scooters to donkeys to navigate difficult terrain.
Dr Withington explained that, for instance, if a Russian soldier identifies a building where Ukrainian forces may be “holed up”, they could “covertly take a picture” and “send it to their higher-ups or other troops,” asking whether anyone has additional information or has located the enemy there.
After military action, units can also submit a written report on the app to inform their commanders, making the platform a critical operational tool.
“It’s like a military radio on steroids, effectively,” Dr Withington added. “And that’s vital for command and control of forces, particularly tactical land forces of the type directly fighting the Ukrainians every day.”
Russia’s reliance on Telegram also highlights a far deeper issue: a glaring technological gap in its ability to co-ordinate and plan operations on the ground.
“The interesting point is not just the use of Telegram, but why Russia’s using it,” Dr Withington said. “The main reason is that their own tactical communications – the systems they use on the battlefield – are pretty lamentable. They’re not fit for purpose.”
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was in the midst of a major overhaul of its communications systems, upgrading outdated equipment with newer technology. However, the process was only partially complete – and it remains so.
A new command-and-control system, known as SVOD, is designed to compensate for the gap left by Telegram, but it is primarily intended for use at the unit commander level and higher, rather than serving as a tool for direct communication between soldiers on the ground.
On the Ukrainian side, a system known as Delta works as a digital battlefield management tool that gives commanders real-time awareness.
“That’s essentially what the Russians need, and what they don’t really have,” said Dr Withington. “Attempts to build something similar haven’t worked. So Telegram has, in effect, become a kind of makeshift ‘Delta’ for them – and now that’s being taken away.”
Questions remain over how Russia will function without Telegram, especially at a time when its intelligence and communications capabilities have already been disrupted by the loss of Starlink, the satellite network relied on for real-time battlefield data and drone operations.
“Losing access to both Starlink and Telegram at the same time has been a major issue,” said Christina Harward, Russia deputy team lead at the Institute for the Study of War.
“The inopportune timing suggests that the Kremlin was not fully aware of how Russian troops were using one or both of these systems, which is in line with years’ worth of reporting that Russian soldiers and lower-level commanders have a systemic habit of lying about the front-line situation to their superiors.”
The blocking of Telegram is certain to affect both the quality and speed of communication within and between Russian units, as well as morale among troops who have relied on the app for informal messaging and venting frustrations, experts say.
They also doubt that systems such as SVOD can replicate the direct, on-the-ground connectivity Telegram offered.
“The fact it isn’t being widely used that way suggests it’s not fit for purpose,” said Dr Withington.
Without an effective substitute, Russian forces may struggle to co-ordinate swiftly, leaving gaps in operational control and creating opportunities for Ukraine to exploit.
Ukrainian forces are already thought to be taking advantage of the dual blackout of Telegram and Starlink, counter-attacking and liberating territory in southern Ukraine in recent weeks.
“Combat depends on fast, reliable communication. If you lose that, things can quickly become very difficult,” said Dr Withington. “You’re effectively depriving the military of robust trunk communications, and in a theatre the size of Ukraine, that’s a major issue.”