Blocking Telegram may prevent Russian air defense from repelling drone attacks

Russian air defense units use Telegram for coordination, and restrictions on the work of Telegram may affect the ability of the Russian military to shoot down drones flying to the rear, military telegram channels write. Roskomnadzor’s actions could indeed worsen the performance of Russian air defense, military analysts confirmed to the Agency.

Details . Telegram was the only working means of communication for Russian mobile air defense groups that protect the rear from Ukrainian long-range drones, wrote the Military Observer Z-channel.

• ️ This was confirmed by the Z-channel “Two Majors”: according to its data, it is through Telegram that the work of interdepartmental mobile fire groups is organized. “Why the hell is there still no unified interdepartmental system of situational awareness of the air situation - a question for air defense,” the channel emphasized , noting that the radar station operator cannot transmit information about what he sees on the radar through the Max state messenger, “because then the HRT, OSB and other control services will definitely come to him.”
• ️ The pro-war telegram channel “Belarusian Silovik” described the principle of using Telegram in the air defense forces: “The conditional radar operator, at his own peril and risk, transmits to authoritative channels <...> information about the impending threat to Russian citizens, so that the population is promptly prepared for a possible attack. <…> All this is now connected through Telegram.” According to the channel, he has no other opportunity to convey such a warning due to the lack of a centralized system.
• ️ In addition, as the “Belarusian Security Forces” emphasizes, there are closed regional chats on Telegram for interdepartmental work, in which the military writes “where the drone flew and where they managed to shoot it down.” “The shutdown of the mobile Internet already greatly undermined the whole process, and with the slowdown of TG they only got worse. This has already become known after receiving information from the fighters directly located there,” the channel adds.
• ️ Restriction of Telegram by Roskomnadzor can really worsen the work of Russian air defense, military analyst Kirill Mikhailov told the Agency. According to him, these troops “are practically not equipped with military communications equipment, which is more needed at the front.” A Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) representative agreed in a conversation with the Agency that the restriction of the messenger may “interfere with normal operations to some extent,” but this situation is likely to last for several days as the military “switches to alternative communication channels.”
• ️ The limitation of mobile communications during raids hits the air defense system much harder, the CIT representative emphasized.
• ️ Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the possible consequences of restrictions for the military, said : “I don’t think it’s possible to imagine that front-line communication is provided through Telegram or some kind of messenger.”

Context . The impact of Roskomnadzor blocking on the Russian military was already discussed at the end of 2024, when RKN blocked Discord. The military used it to coordinate UAVs. However, then the situation was mitigated by the fact that Starlink terminals were used at the front, which were not affected by Russian blocking, Mikhailov told the Agency. According to him, the Russian military continued to use Discord until recently: since the beginning of February, Ukraine began to restrict the operation of Starlink terminals illegally used by Russia.

• ️ A wave of complaints about problems with access to Telegram began on Monday, and on Tuesday the blocking intensified. On Tuesday, RBC, citing sources, reported that Roskomnadzor decided to slow down the work of the messenger in Russia. The department officially confirmed that it plans to strengthen Telegram blocking.
• ️ By blocking Telegram and WhatsApp, the authorities are pushing Russians to switch to Max, which is transparent to intelligence services.