Could the Russian army really suffer due to the blocking of Telegram?

And what does the shutdown of Starlink terminals have to do with it? Department "Analysis" - as briefly as possible about the possible consequences of new restrictions for the RF Armed Forces

Many Russian “military correspondents” in their telegram channels were outraged by the authorities’ decision to “partially” limit the work of telegram. The messenger is indeed actively used as a means of communication at the front, but is not the only communication channel for military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces.

To coordinate assault operations, for example, until recently, the Discord service, formally blocked in Russia, was actively used, which served as an addition to the management of Starlink terminals. True, Elon Musk recently “disabled” all the “illegal” terminals of the Russian Armed Forces (not without the help of the new head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Mikhail Fedorov).

Communications among the troops were disrupted. Units of the Russian Armed Forces that previously used Starlink were forced to switch to Russian networks (for example, using fiber optic networks or radio bridges). However, Discord is no longer available on these networks, and now Telegram is also under threat of blocking. So, with new restrictions, the Russian authorities really only risk causing additional damage to their own communications and command system, depriving the Russian Armed Forces of another service.

And a strong blow may come to the very ecosystem of “military correspondents”: for them, Telegram is not only a platform for distributing content, but also the main channel for collecting donations and making money on advertising.

You can read more about what telegram means for the RF Armed Forces and the “volunteers” around them in our large analysis.

Department "Analysis"