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Since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has gained significant influence over Ukrainian audiences. Almost One million users downloaded the app in the month from
Almost One million users downloaded the app in the month from February 24, 2022. Today this messaging is used by 88% of Ukrainians. Today Telegram is news for us, warnings about the approach of missiles to the area where we will stay, volunteer meetings, access to uncensored information from the battlefield on every phone.
But in the conditions of a large-scale war, is our trust in such a useful tool with ties to the aggressor country justified?
War of passwords. Why does Russia need a global messenger?
During World War II, information was transmitted via radio and it was possible to intercept it. Therefore, their data (plans and orders) were transmitted in encrypted form to keep them secret. For this, the warring states used advanced machines that converted plain text into a secret code. For example, Hitler’s Germany and Japan used a cipher created by the Enigma machine. It was believed that it was impossible to crack this cipher, so the Nazis were not afraid to use it to transmit the most secret information.
Enigma encryption machine used by the Nazis during World War II Image: Central Intelligence Agency
The Allies were indeed unable to “crack” the German encryption code for a long time. However, when the British finally succeeded, they guarded this secret very carefully. So that the enemy does not realize that he has gained full access to the distribution system of classified information.
For this, the British government even had to sacrifice its army: the command, aware of decrypted intercepts about individual plans to attack British convoys, did nothing to prevent the danger. By consciously allowing individual defeats, the British had the whole picture of the war. And at a critical moment they used their knowledge of the Nazis’ plans. Thanks to this, it was possible to end the war with victory over Nazism almost a few years ago.
So what does history have in common with Hitler’s “Enigma” and the Russian Telegraph?
The closed MTProto encryption protocol, Telegram’s dubious jurisdiction, the “dark” history of its financing and active connections to Russia, even after the social network’s top executives allegedly forcibly left their homeland — all this raises doubts about the veracity of the official statements of the Telegram administration about the “super reliability” of its messengers.
On the contrary, Telegram, which is closely linked to the Czechist-Kremlin regime that has launched an all-out war in Europe, may also be a kind of “Mystery of the XXI Century” operation currently carried out by Russian special services. .
All of this raises concerns: Will the Kremlin use Messenger, which has 800 million users, as a tool in its war against Ukraine? And then – and “we will fan the world fire” by applying Bolshevik ideology in a global hybrid war against the West.
Durov’s gravitational pole
Pavel Durov is openly distancing himself from all ties with Russian authorities. Presents himself as a victim of the Putin-Chekist regime – including his political position: when Durov announced in 2014 that he refused to give the personal data of Ukrainian Vkontakte users at the request of Russian security forces. And so the Kremlin completely took over Durov’s network.
Later, Vkontakte came under the wing of United Capital Partners, which is managed by its board of directors.
state company “Rosneft” (meaning Kremlin). After all, from 2014 to 2021 the controlling stake belonged to Alisher Usmanov, a billionaire, one of Russia’s richest men and “Putin’s favorite oligarch” as the Western media calls him, and his Mail.ru Group.
And in December 2021, Radio Liberty reported that controlling shares of VK (including Russia’s largest social network Vkontakte) were purchased by the Sogaz group, whose owners are Putin’s friend Yuriy Kovalchuk, the dictator’s nephew Mikhail Shelomov and Gazprom. Additionally, a large stake belongs to the Russian state company “Rostech”, run by Putin’s colleague from the KGB era, Sergei Chemezov. In March 2022, all foreigners on the company’s board of directors left. Therefore, there is no doubt that the Vkontakte social network is completely under the control of the Kremlin-Putin.
in 2022 Durov’s representative stated in his statement to the American Forbes that Pavel left Russia years ago and will not return. Today Durov also holds citizenship of France, UAE, Senet-Kits and Nevis.
After the full-scale attack began in 2022, Pavel Durov published a post on his page in which he assured that user privacy is a priority for Telegram, despite his former career and life in Russia. Although he did not condemn Russia’s aggression at the time, he described the war as a “tragic conflict”.
Translation: “9 years ago I protected Ukrainians’ private data from the Russian government and lost my company and my home. I would do it again without hesitation.”
But how appropriate Notable Moxie Marlinspike (An American cybersecurity expert, cryptographer, co-founder of Signal messenger and author of the Signal protocol encryption protocol used in Signal, WhatsApp, Google Messages, Facebook Messenger and Skype) – Russia, although the Telegram team is no longer based there; There may still be members of their families. And therefore being vulnerable to the Russian government.
Also members of the Telegram team they do not shy away from the company of Russian politicians, both at public events and private meetings. Therefore, Russia still remains the “pole of gravity” of Durov’s team.
Money from warm countries: financing from the Arab Fund through the Russian Federation
Identifying Telegram’s funding sources is a task that requires an asterisk because the company attracts its investors privately. However, the names of some people and organizations mentioned as investors in the news report appeared in the media more than once.
So, among the investors of TON (Telegram cryptocurrency) were Russian David Yakobashvili and oligarch Roman Abramovich. The first is within the scope of Ukrainian sanctions, and the second is included in the sanction lists of the European Union, USA, Switzerland, Canada, Ukraine and other countries. Both have close ties to the Kremlin.
Source: agreement room
Telegram’s investors include sanctioned David Yakobashvili, Roman Abramovich, and Arab funds with a long history of cooperation with Russia’s Mubadala Capital and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners.
Among the investors who see the potential in Telegram are many representatives of the UAE. So two mutual funds that bought $150 million worth of precursor bonds are frequently mentioned: Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners (a fund created by Mubadala and American investment company Falcon Edge Capital).
Especially an Emirati company Working closely with Russia, Mubadala created the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in 2013, a $2 billion fund to invest in long-term projects in various sectors of the Russian economy.
Mubadala also invested in Pulkovo Airport in Russia, SIBUR (chemical holding company), En+ and Gazprom Neft projects. According to Reuters, the fund’s total portfolio in Russia is estimated to be 3 billion US dollars. In March 2021, information appeared in the media that the Mubadala fund invested in Telegram together with RFPI. However, Telegram management denied information about investments from RFPI.
After the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine Mubadala announced that it has suspended its investments in Russia. However, Mubadala’s senior executive, Khaldun Mubarak, stated as early as March 2023 that the Russian invasion would not stop the fund’s ambition to become a global investor. Therefore, today Telegram is still present in Mubadala’s portfolio, like the other Russian companies mentioned.
An interesting detail: at the beginning of 2024, Russian authorities “wrote off” the debt due to fines they had previously imposed on Telegram and Western technology companies. The relevant record disappeared from the Federal Reserve’s database. Telegram, in turn, did not pay any debts and assured Reuters that they did not know why the debts were written off, as the company has neither assets, offices nor employees in Russia. But in reality this is not the case: Telegram and Russia are still connected by money, technological resources and people. And Russia is still finding workarounds to invest in Telegram.
Traffic is in Russian hands
Telegram uses only Russian-based companies for its traffic transmission networks. Network traffic (may also be called data traffic or simply traffic) is the amount of data moving over a network over a period of time. Any application we use on the Internet (like Telegram) needs to transmit data packets over the network in order to work properly. Network administrators can control traffic; can prioritize or monitor traffic (measure its volume and data types).
So Telegram uses two companies for such a task: RETN and LLC GLOBALNET. Both are of Russian origin.
Intelligence in chats: interception of Telegram channels in the war zone
In January 2024, the information space monitoring group of one of the divisions of the Armed Forces noticed the facts of external interference in the work of local Telegram channels of occupied Berdyansk, Melitopol and Mariupol. The information space monitoring group received information about Russian hits, destruction, losses of personnel, equipment and military equipment from there. However, at some point, without the knowledge of the administrators of these channels, all viewed posts, photos and videos, comments on the channels and apartment chats were deleted.
After the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 5 Russian aircrew in May 2023 during the Bryansk Massacre special operation, all local Telegram channels closed the discussion. It is not yet known whether this is due to external intervention or just the initiative of channel managers.
Similarly, of the 15 Wagner channels monitored during Prigozhin’s “campaign” against Moscow, only three continued to operate. At the same time, there were failures in Telegram’s work throughout the Russian Federation.
Using Telegram in a war zone means giving the Russians access to your geolocation, multimedia and chat history, even deleted ones. This was confirmed by the Russians themselves. So, at the end of 2023, a leading Russian television channel published the following news: He bragged that Russian security forces had access to deleted messages on Telegram Ukrainians were detained.
It is also very significant that Telegram and Vkontakte are one of the two social networks that the Russian leadership officially allows its military to use.
Moveton or a security issue?
Ukrainian cyber experts community DC8044 recently announced that this messenger “switched” from Telegram to another communication platform due to questionable jurisdiction and ties to the Kremlin.
The President of Ukraine began to develop his own channels on WhatsApp and other resources, Air Force, State Emergency Service, State Emergency Service, Strategic Communications Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and other government organizations.
The trend has been set. Now using a Russian information product is like playing with face down cards, where your opponent knows exactly what you’re going to do next. And in war conditions, this becomes not just a buzzword, but also a problematic national security issue.
If Elon Musk, with access to control of Starlink, managed to prevent the attack of Ukrainian drones on the Black Sea Fleet ship of the Russian Federation, then what steps could the Russian Pavel Durov’s team take? Are you dependent on the Kremlin in this war between Russia and Ukraine?
The material was prepared by the editorial office “Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security” for the Ukrinform website.
Source: Ukrinform
As an experienced journalist and author, Mary has been reporting on the latest news and trends for over 5 years. With a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines, Mary has earned a reputation as a trusted voice in the world of journalism. Her writing style is insightful, engaging and thought-provoking, as she takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues of our time.
