Russian Troops Face Penal Units for Telegram Use
(MOSCOW) – Russian military personnel serving in occupied Ukraine are reportedly being threatened with deployment to high-risk penal units if they are discovered using the Telegram messaging application. Reports from the Institute for the Study of War and various internal sources indicate that military police have begun conducting inspections of soldiers’ mobile devices to ensure the platform has been deleted.
The crackdown follows widespread reports of Telegram outages across the Russian Federation as rumours of a total block on the service continue to circulate. Despite the potential for significant negative fallout regarding military coordination, the Kremlin appears committed to a policy that would see the platform fully blocked by 1 April 2026. Approximately 90 million Russian citizens currently use the application, and its removal is expected to be incredibly disruptive to both civilian life and frontline operations.
The Russian dictator is reportedly seeking to migrate all domestic and military communications to a state-sanctioned surveillance application known as Max. While the Kremlin claims this move is necessary for national security, critics argue it is a measure designed to increase state oversight. In the combat zone, the transition has been fraught with tension. Pro-war commentators have noted that military police are checking phones for the application, with some soldiers allegedly being told that non-compliance will result in an “assault mission with an asterisk,” a reference to certain death in Storm-Z penal detachments.
The Kremlin’s stance on the application has been inconsistent. Although officials previously suggested that military units might be exempt from the ban due to the platform’s role as critical military infrastructure, the Russian dictator has recently favoured a total prohibition. The Federal Security Service (FSB) has claimed, without providing evidence, that the application poses a life-threatening risk.
Financial penalties have also been levied against the platform. A Moscow court recently fined Telegram 35 million roubles ($417,200 or £322,000) for failing to remove restricted content. As the 1 April deadline approaches, the move to isolate Russian troops from their primary communication tool remains a point of significant internal friction.
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