According to an InMind study, in 2025, 81% of Ukrainians used Telegram for communication, and 72% read news there. The intelligence group 'Kremlegram' claims that, apart from secret chats, messages in the messenger are not encrypted, so names, phone numbers, contact lists and geolocation are available to platform managers.
Telegram's ownership is opaque: despite offices in Europe, the US and the Middle East, some servers were located in Russia at least until 2020. According to Ukrainska Pravda, this portion of IP addresses from the US is administered by Vladimir Vedeneyev, former owner of GlobalNet LLC, closely linked to Russia's FSB. In 2021, Telegram placed bonds on the St Petersburg exchange; the main investors were the Russian Direct Investment Fund, VTB Capital (60% owned by the Russian state) and Alfa Capital of Mikhail Fridman. The five-year investment programme runs until September 2026.
What they say about blocking in Russia
At the end of February 2026, information spread in Russian public pages that, according to a Roskomnadzor plan, from 1 April access to Telegram would be unavailable throughout the country, except for Russian military personnel on the front line. The technical mechanism is unknown. Ukrainians in occupied territories confirmed to the publication that during March they began to lose access to the messenger, which for them remained one of the few channels of communication with loved ones. Earlier in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories, at least Meta and YouTube services had been blocked; as an alternative, the Kremlin is forcing the use of the MAX app by Russian developers.
In the diary of the partisan movement 'Zla Mavka' (Evil Mavka), one of the underground members described how, after installing MAX, she was summoned for a talk by the director of the company where she works. 'MAX simply collects everything – geolocation, contacts, IP addresses and how I behave on which social network,' she wrote.
Security versus politics
After the terrorist attack in Lviv, when Ukrainians recruited via Telegram detonated two explosive devices in the city centre, restrictions on the messenger due to national security threats were discussed by the head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, and his deputy Iryna Vereshchuk, as well as Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. They discussed limiting the app's speed and banning its use for children under a certain age.
The head of 'Kremlegram', Nazar Tokar, explained to the publication that blocking for certain categories of the population is technically impossible without cooperation with Telegram, and that built-in proxies, which are easily activated, work against speed limits. According to Ukrainska Pravda's sources in security agencies, statements about restrictions are not unfounded: specialists are seeking the most effective solution to control threats.
MP from 'Holos' Yaroslav Yurchyshyn believes that President Volodymyr Zelensky will not dare to shut down Telegram, since his team has invested resources in promoting channels since the election campaign, and the blocking of VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, according to him, hit Petro Poroshenko's ratings. Therefore, he assesses the path through a National Security and Defence Council decision and sanctions as unlikely.
Bills instead of sanctions
While the Presidential Office is not considering blocking through National Security and Defence Council sanctions, the Verkhovna Rada is working on a law on digital platforms. Mykola Knyazhytsky ('European Solidarity') has submitted a bill regulating the operation of social networks; Mykyta Poturayev ('Servant of the People') is preparing another, not yet submitted, draft that provides for the possibility of restrictions related to national security threats. Both documents require platforms to have a legal entity or representative office in Ukraine and to communicate with the government.
Poturayev explained that Ukraine cannot impose sanctions against Telegram, since among the investors are Arab and American funds, behind which, according to him, may be people linked to the Kremlin. He also noted that for full control, it would be necessary to purchase costly 'black boxes' for deep data analysis, as Russia does, and that Ukraine does not plan to do so.
According to the publication's interlocutors, even if the law is adopted, turning on a VPN will be enough to bypass the blocking. A vote on the draft, according to the most optimistic predictions of MPs, could take place by the end of 2026.
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