The slowdown of Telegram in Russia has worsened coordination between Russian military units.
The Russian invaders’ Arkhangel Spetsnaza Telegram channel stated that the messenger slowdown could disrupt established communication channels.
Since February 9, Russian users have been actively reporting outages and disruptions in Telegram’s operation.
The Russian authorities are using restrictions on Telegram to try to force citizens to switch to the state-controlled MAX app.
Amid the lack of Starlink internet access at the invaders’ positions, intelligence transmission has already slowed. The lack of reliable access to Telegram will further complicate the situation, causing additional delays at the command level.
As an example, Russian troops describe the following scenario: a drone spots enemy movement and sends the information to operations officers within a minute. Without Telegram, the data must then be passed through internal communication channels to the unit commander and from there to the intelligence command post. The information is subsequently forwarded to other units to carry out a strike, and then the response is relayed back to the crew through the same chain.
“In the best-case scenario, it will take several hours to pass the information instead of just 1–2 minutes via Telegram,” the invaders complain.
Intelligence data loses its relevance within 10–15 minutes, making a fire strike pointless.
On Telegram, coordination between Russian operations officers occurs directly, and a response to a target can take only seconds.
“This will largely set us back several years, roughly to the beginning of the war. At the same time, alternative methods are already being developed, but restoring effective coordination will take considerable time,” the invaders noted.
To ensure reliable communications, the Russian army relies on foreign technologies. Internet connectivity between the headquarters at the front has often been provided through the American Starlink system.
Video communication and coordination are often conducted via the American messaging platform Discord, while communication between units is primarily organized through Telegram on Chinese smartphones.
