Ukraine has carried out an important action regarding its national security by banning the usage of the Telegram messaging app on the government and military smartphones. Such concern was developed in July with growing fears of Russian surveillance.

As stated on the website of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity, which is one of the main bodies that coordinates and oversees activities in the sphere of cybersecurity, has decided not to allow the use of Telegram within government organizations, military structures, and critical infrastructure facilities.

The Chief of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, presented proof at the NCCC meeting on Thursday that Russian special services had access to the private messages and personal data of Telegram users, even deleted ones.

“I have always stood for freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech; it is a matter of national security,” he said.

Representatives from the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Ukraine Security Service brought up during the conference how enemy forces are using Telegram for a variety of operations, such as phishing, malware distribution, cyberattacks, user geolocation monitoring, and even modifying missile strikes.

The decision was made to prohibit the installation and use of Telegram on official devices belonging to government officials, military people, security and defense industry workers, and businesses running important infrastructure in order to reduce these dangers. The authorities who use Telegram for official business, however, will be unaffected by the prohibition.

In the meantime, a number of actions were taken to advance the nation’s cybersecurity industry, including the introduction of an automated platform called CyberTracker to track the execution of the Cybersecurity Strategy of Ukraine and encourage women’s participation in the field. This will enhance strategic planning within the cybersecurity sector. In a private meeting, certain topics intended to improve the nation’s cyber resilience were also covered.

Telegram, a UAE-based company, was started by Pavel Durov, a Russian native.