>Russian military bloggers are panicking after Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at a Paris airport on Saturday evening.
>As news broke that Russian-born Durov was detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport, pro-war military analysts and bloggers took to the platform to lament the future of the conflict in Ukraine, highlighting that Telegram is a critical means of communication within the Russian army.
>The 39-year-old founder of Telegram, a dual French and Russian citizen, was arrested as part of an investigation which alleges that the messaging platform has been used for fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offenses, French media reported.
>Telegram, launched in 2013, issued a statement late on Sunday saying that Durov “has nothing to hide” and that it abides by all [EU](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/eu) laws. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” it said.
>Responding to the news, Russian journalist Alexander Sladkov said that Russia’s military conducts half of its communications via the messaging app, and said an alternative must be created “urgently.”
>”Pavel Durov was arrested. This attack on the owner of [Telegram], on which half of the communications in the [war] are held, was expected. Now we urgently need to create a [Russian military](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russian-military) messenger,” he wrote.
>”Well, was it impossible to think about this earlier?! Why did the [Wagner Group](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/wagner-group) have such a messenger, but the armed forces of our great Russia do not!?!?” Sladkov said, referring to the Russian paramilitary outfit which was led by the late [Yevgeny Prigozhin](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/yevgeny-prigozhin). “And there is no one to punish. Or maybe we shouldn’t look for the guilty? Russia’s punishment is carelessness. And this is a nightmare.”
Good.
What’s wrong, guys? I’m sure you have nothing to hide…
Дуров, личный друг Путина и офицер ФСБ. Его выменяют на украинских пленных солдат, он не будет сидеть в тюрьме.
Where will IDF post their latest snuff films if Telegram goes? (actually think telegram shouldn’t be criminalised, surely something else can take its place though)
Wait for “free speech” astroturfers to start defending russian military bloggers.
Cherry pick a couple of comments, ignore 99.95% of other comments about that topic (from the same authors), as well as the fact that AFU are using exactly the same messenger and that there’s plenty of other communication channels, and make a clickbait headline not even related to what’s written in the article.
What a dumb piece of propaganda lol, Goebbels is rolling in his grave
Should have happened a long time ago. Russia has been engaging in acts of war using telegram against all western nations.
Call me naive, but I don’t think it has much to do with the Ukraine war.
It’s a rich guy, thinking he is above the law, not respecting French law enforcement requests in criminal cases ran on his platform.
The only other person who should be worried is Musk, showing the same disdain of European laws about social networks.
Create a backdoor in exchange for freedom. Having billions won’t be fun if you’re locked up.
If you see people complaining about “free speech” on the Internet with regards to this issue you know it has upset the ruzzians.
So are some Redditors..
I wonder what france want to archive… there is not much he can do but being more strict against illegal content.
Fuck Russia and its bloggers but every EU resident should be concerned about Chat Control. The European Commission wants to eliminate privacy from all digital correspondence. This is Orwellian Surveillance. I don’t want to be like China!
I wonder how many of these military bloggers signed up to serve, as patriots I’m sure they’d happily take part in a meat assault for a noname Ukrainian village.
no takers?
It’s wild how heavily an entire country relies on a third party app for communication at all levels. Journalists/bloggers using it makes sense but the fact coordination within the military command structure has to use it is crazy. That would be like the US issuing orders and operational plans with WhatsApp. Haha
Je suis Charlie, sometimes
Strategic military communications never pass through applications like Telegram for crucial security reasons.
Armed forces use specialized systems, such as encrypted communications networks (like SATCOM systems for satellite communications), spread-spectrum radios, or hardware encryption devices like the specifically designed STU-III and Sectéra Edge phones. to resist electronic espionage, cyberattacks and signal jamming.
Using a civilian application such as Telegram on an Android device is simply unthinkable in a military context for several reasons:
Data security: Android (or iOS) smartphones are multifunctional devices that store a large amount of personal and sensitive data. They are exposed to constant threats, ranging from malware to operating system vulnerabilities.
Even encrypted, these devices remain a prime target for cyberattacks, metadata harvesting, and espionage by nation states or malicious actors. An intrusion into these systems could compromise critical information (location, troop movements, strategies) due to the often excessive permissions required by applications like Telegram.
Lack of military certification: Civilian applications lack the necessary certifications to meet military communications requirements.
Systems used by the armed forces are subject to rigorous security protocols, developed by agencies such as the NSA or GCHQ, and do not rely on third-party platforms such as Google Play Store or Apple App Store, which may contain vulnerabilities or vulnerabilities. compromised software.
Lack of redundancy and robustness:
Civilian telecommunications networks are vulnerable to outages, breakdowns and jamming. In an operational environment, it is essential to be able to maintain continuous and redundant communications, even in extreme conditions. Military systems are designed to withstand these failures, for example through mesh networks, secure satellite links or infrastructure hardened against electronic attacks. No civilian application can guarantee such resilience.
Risk of geolocation and interception: Smartphones, whether Android or iOS, constantly communicate with remote networks and servers to synchronize data, send notifications, etc. These communications can be intercepted or used to geolocate users, which would be catastrophic in a military context where the position of troops must remain confidential.
In summary, armed forces need dedicated, ultra-secure communications solutions designed to address sophisticated threats of electronic warfare, espionage and cyberattacks.
Using consumer apps on personal devices like Android would constitute a major security breach and expose vital information to unacceptable risks…
18 comments
>Russian military bloggers are panicking after Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at a Paris airport on Saturday evening.
>As news broke that Russian-born Durov was detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport, pro-war military analysts and bloggers took to the platform to lament the future of the conflict in Ukraine, highlighting that Telegram is a critical means of communication within the Russian army.
>The 39-year-old founder of Telegram, a dual French and Russian citizen, was arrested as part of an investigation which alleges that the messaging platform has been used for fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offenses, French media reported.
>Telegram, launched in 2013, issued a statement late on Sunday saying that Durov “has nothing to hide” and that it abides by all [EU](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/eu) laws. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” it said.
>Responding to the news, Russian journalist Alexander Sladkov said that Russia’s military conducts half of its communications via the messaging app, and said an alternative must be created “urgently.”
>”Pavel Durov was arrested. This attack on the owner of [Telegram], on which half of the communications in the [war] are held, was expected. Now we urgently need to create a [Russian military](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russian-military) messenger,” he wrote.
>”Well, was it impossible to think about this earlier?! Why did the [Wagner Group](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/wagner-group) have such a messenger, but the armed forces of our great Russia do not!?!?” Sladkov said, referring to the Russian paramilitary outfit which was led by the late [Yevgeny Prigozhin](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/yevgeny-prigozhin). “And there is no one to punish. Or maybe we shouldn’t look for the guilty? Russia’s punishment is carelessness. And this is a nightmare.”
Good.
What’s wrong, guys? I’m sure you have nothing to hide…
Дуров, личный друг Путина и офицер ФСБ. Его выменяют на украинских пленных солдат, он не будет сидеть в тюрьме.
Where will IDF post their latest snuff films if Telegram goes? (actually think telegram shouldn’t be criminalised, surely something else can take its place though)
Wait for “free speech” astroturfers to start defending russian military bloggers.
Cherry pick a couple of comments, ignore 99.95% of other comments about that topic (from the same authors), as well as the fact that AFU are using exactly the same messenger and that there’s plenty of other communication channels, and make a clickbait headline not even related to what’s written in the article.
What a dumb piece of propaganda lol, Goebbels is rolling in his grave
Should have happened a long time ago. Russia has been engaging in acts of war using telegram against all western nations.
Call me naive, but I don’t think it has much to do with the Ukraine war.
It’s a rich guy, thinking he is above the law, not respecting French law enforcement requests in criminal cases ran on his platform.
The only other person who should be worried is Musk, showing the same disdain of European laws about social networks.
Create a backdoor in exchange for freedom. Having billions won’t be fun if you’re locked up.
If you see people complaining about “free speech” on the Internet with regards to this issue you know it has upset the ruzzians.
So are some Redditors..
I wonder what france want to archive… there is not much he can do but being more strict against illegal content.
Fuck Russia and its bloggers but every EU resident should be concerned about Chat Control. The European Commission wants to eliminate privacy from all digital correspondence. This is Orwellian Surveillance. I don’t want to be like China!
Some resources:
[https://volteuropa.org/news/chat-control-wont-protect-children](https://volteuropa.org/news/chat-control-wont-protect-children)
[https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/](https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/)
[https://freiheitsrechte.org/en/themen/digitale-grundrechte/chatkontrolle](https://freiheitsrechte.org/en/themen/digitale-grundrechte/chatkontrolle)
I wonder how many of these military bloggers signed up to serve, as patriots I’m sure they’d happily take part in a meat assault for a noname Ukrainian village.
no takers?
It’s wild how heavily an entire country relies on a third party app for communication at all levels. Journalists/bloggers using it makes sense but the fact coordination within the military command structure has to use it is crazy. That would be like the US issuing orders and operational plans with WhatsApp. Haha
Je suis Charlie, sometimes
Strategic military communications never pass through applications like Telegram for crucial security reasons.
Armed forces use specialized systems, such as encrypted communications networks (like SATCOM systems for satellite communications), spread-spectrum radios, or hardware encryption devices like the specifically designed STU-III and Sectéra Edge phones. to resist electronic espionage, cyberattacks and signal jamming.
Using a civilian application such as Telegram on an Android device is simply unthinkable in a military context for several reasons:
Data security: Android (or iOS) smartphones are multifunctional devices that store a large amount of personal and sensitive data. They are exposed to constant threats, ranging from malware to operating system vulnerabilities.
Even encrypted, these devices remain a prime target for cyberattacks, metadata harvesting, and espionage by nation states or malicious actors.
An intrusion into these systems could compromise critical information (location, troop movements, strategies) due to the often excessive permissions required by applications like Telegram.
Lack of military certification: Civilian applications lack the necessary certifications to meet military communications requirements.
Systems used by the armed forces are subject to rigorous security protocols, developed by agencies such as the NSA or GCHQ, and do not rely on third-party platforms such as Google Play Store or Apple App Store, which may contain vulnerabilities or vulnerabilities. compromised software.
Lack of redundancy and robustness:
Civilian telecommunications networks are vulnerable to outages, breakdowns and jamming.
In an operational environment, it is essential to be able to maintain continuous and redundant communications, even in extreme conditions.
Military systems are designed to withstand these failures, for example through mesh networks, secure satellite links or infrastructure hardened against electronic attacks.
No civilian application can guarantee such resilience.
Risk of geolocation and interception:
Smartphones, whether Android or iOS, constantly communicate with remote networks and servers to synchronize data, send notifications, etc.
These communications can be intercepted or used to geolocate users, which would be catastrophic in a military context where the position of troops must remain confidential.
In summary, armed forces need dedicated, ultra-secure communications solutions designed to address sophisticated threats of electronic warfare, espionage and cyberattacks.
Using consumer apps on personal devices like Android would constitute a major security breach and expose vital information to unacceptable risks…