Ukrainian intelligence chatbots restored to Telegram following temporary block

Several Ukrainian intelligence chatbots have been restored to messenger app Telegram after being blocked on Sunday evening, the Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported Monday.

The decision to block the chatbots used to gather military intelligence on Russian troops in occupied territories was “unreasonable” as it violated Telegram’s rules and public statements, Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, whose chatbot was among those blocked, stated Sunday.

Other chatbots such as those belonging to the Security Service of Ukraine and the Digital Transformation Ministry also disappeared from the app before being restored on Monday.

Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn suggested Monday that the Russian security services had put pressure on Telegram to block “everything related to Ukraine”.

Telegram creator Pavel Durov previously stated that the app would block accounts and chatbots that gathered information to direct airstrikes or called for attacks, to prevent Telegram becoming “a tool for violence”.