Russia uses Telegram for battlefield communication and organizing sabotage - Politico
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
Telegram is widely used by Russian military forces for battlefield communication due to issues with deploying their secure communication system. For Russia, it also serves as a tool for recruiting saboteurs and spreading propaganda, reports Politico.
"They practically detained the head of communication of the Russian army," reads a Telegram message from one of the Russian military bloggers, as cited by the publication.
Another blogger noted that Russian experts are working on an alternative to Telegram, but the Main Communications Directorate of the Russian army has shown no real interest in equipping the Russian troops with such a system.
"Russians do everything via Telegram. They are recruiting agents and people for counter-activities. Today in Ukraine, a popular campaign is to recruit people who would burn Ukrainian military cars. And it is quite successful. They coordinate their military efforts using it," Nazar Tokar, head of Kremlingram, an investigative group of activists studying Telegram’s security and its potential ties to the Kremlin told Politico.
While the Kremlin has restricted most other social media platforms, Telegram has not been banned or restricted, Tokar said. This is because Durov, according to his statements, fled Russia in 2014 after the Kremlin demanded access to data from his previous social network, VKontakte, about Ukrainian pro-democracy protesters involved in the 2014 revolution.
According to Tokar, Telegram is much more important to Russia than to Ukraine.
"I think that the Russians are panicking because they are trying to predict possible outcomes for their essential communications tool and are trying to protect themselves and remove information from there. But everything will depend on the French government and the courts — whether they will imprison Durov, or come to an agreement and release him and he in return will provide them with some information — we do not know yet," he said.
Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport in the Paris suburbs on the evening of August 24.
He is accused of terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering, selling stolen goods, and sexual crimes against children, as well as failing to moderate the service and cooperate with the investigation. Durov could face up to 20 years in prison.
Telegram has denied the allegations, stating that the company operates within the legal framework of the EU.
For more information on Durov's arrest in France and the future of Telegram, read the article by RBC-Ukraine.
