March 15, 2026

Russian soldiers on the front line ordered to delete Telegram under threat of being sent into assault units

Russian soldiers on the front line have begun to be banned from using Telegram. Military police are checking phones, and upon discovery of the messenger, soldiers are sent to the assault units. This is reported by Z-channels "Two Majors" and "Belarusian Silovik" citing sources. "Of course, they indicate MAX as an alternative. It's just that MAX has been banned from being installed in a number of special units. Although we see how a number of combat chats have already migrated to MAX. The Telega is slowing down," write "Two Majors". "Belarusian Silovik" states that "the legs of such orders grow" within the units themselves, not in the Ministry of Defense: "Because in a number of other units, the command, on the contrary, continues to work precisely through TG and speaks out against MAX". Earlier, RBC and The Bell reported that the messenger would be completely blocked in Russia on April 1. In early March, Putin made it clear that he agreed to a complete block of Telegram, including on the front line. The FSB claimed that the Ukrainian special services can receive information from Telegram "in the shortest possible time," and the use of the messenger by Russian military personnel on the front line "has repeatedly led to the creation of a threat to life."