Ukraine bans Telegram use on state-issued devices

Ukraine has banned the use of the Telegram messaging platform on official devices issued to government and military personnel, as well as defence sector and critical infrastructure employees.

The country's powerful National Security and Defence Council (Rnbo) said this was done to "minimise" threats posed by Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Telegram is actively used by the enemy for cyber-attacks, the distribution of phishing and malicious software, user geolocation and missile strike correction," the Rnbo said on Friday.

In a statement to the BBC, Telegram said it has "never provided any messaging data to any country, including Russia".

Telegram is widely used by the government and the military in both Ukraine and Russia.

In a statement, the Rnbo said the ban was agreed at a meeting of Ukraine's top information security officials, the military as well as lawmakers.

It said military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov had presented credible evidence of Russian special services' ability to access personal correspondence of Telegram users, even their deleted messages.

"I have always supported and continue to support freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech, it is a matter of national security," Budanov was quoted as saying.

The Rnbo said that those officials for whom the use of Telegram was part of their work duties would be exempt from the ban.

Separately, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Rnbo's centre on countering disinformation, stressed the ban only applied to official devices - not personal smartphones.

He added that government officials and military personnel would be able to continue to maintain and update their official Telegram pages.

Last year, a USAID-Internews survey found that Telegram was the top social platform in Ukraine for news consumption, with 72% of Ukrainians using it.

Telegram - which offers end-to-end encryption - was co-founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov and his brother in 2013.

A year later, Durov left Russia after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform.

Last month, Durov, who is also a French national, was placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into organised crime.

His case has fuelled a debate about freedom of speech, accountability and how platforms moderate content.

In July, Durov claimed that Telegram reached 950 million monthly active users.

Following Ukraine's claims, a spokesperson for Telegram said the company would be "interested in reviewing any evidence that supports Mr Budanov's claims", adding that "to our knowledge, no such evidence exists".

"Telegram has never provided any messaging data to any country, including Russia," the spokesperson added.

Telegram also said "deleted messages are deleted forever and are technically impossible to recover".

The firm added that "every instance of supposed 'leaked messages' Telegram has investigated has been the result of a compromised device, whether through confiscation or malware".