Russian soldiers ordered to delete Telegram as nationwide block begins

https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/03/16/russian-soldiers-ordered-to-delete-telegram-as-nationwide-block-begins-en-news

15 Comments

  1. ProlapseMishap on

    Can’t let your people know their sons are getting their shit absolutely rocked and dying in the least dignified way possible while also losing ground.

  2. GoodPear8481 on

    Much like how Russia’s allies Iran, China and North Korea have totally cut their own populations off from the internet.

    Freedom of speech is an existential threat to dictators everywhere.

  3. lemonfreshhh on

    Correct me if I’m wrong but at this point no one has offered a plausible explanation as to what are the advantages from this move that Russia is hoping for which would outweigh the considerable military and civilian disadvantages.

    The simplest explanation would be that they believe an adversary (eg Ukraine or some European intelligence service) has compromised Telegram on a systemic level and Budanov is reading what Russia’s soldiers and officers are saying in real time. But no one has suggested this afaik.

  4. ILikeCutePuppies on

    In addition to trying to stop a rebellion, I suspect Russia might need to do another “partial” draft and they don’t want people to talk about it.

  5. I’m pretty sure Putin called Zalenskyy a dictator.

    So how come Zalenskyy invites journalists to interview him without preconditions. The Ukranian soldiers have access to Starlink and messaging services.

  6. I think by now Putin and his sycophants understand that he is not winning the war, since Trump has failed to convince Ukraine and Europe to give in.

    They need to keep the war going so the hundreds of thousands murderers, rapists and thugs (but now with PTSD and trained in combat) do not come pouring back into the country all at once while the economy is falling apart.

    They are preparing for another round of forced mobilization and for the state to take total control of the populace. It’s not about winning the war, it’s about keeping themselves in power.

    They don’t want to see a repeat of what happened when soldiers came back from Afghanistan back in 1989.

  7. HoneyImpossible2371 on

    This outcome is probably the best thing to happen from the Iran Israel USA war. Because Dubai needs Ukraine assistance with drones and Telegram is a Dubai-based platform, Russia sees a security risk. Now the Russian frontline has no comms.

  8. Weren’t Russian soldiers banned from having cell phones last year. They had commanders nailing phones to trees?