Telegram restores Ukraine security agencies’ chatbots after short-term suspension News
AzamKamolov / Pixabay
Telegram restores Ukraine security agencies’ chatbots after short-term suspension

Messaging app Telegram restored access to a number of chatbots used by Ukrainian security agencies to gather information about Russia’s military actions after their short-term suspension, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security said on Monday.

Telegram messenger blocked a number of official bots on Sunday that opposed Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, including the main intelligence bot of the Main Intelligence Directorate (MID)—known as the GUR in Ukraine. These bots are used to collect intelligence that can be useful in the fight against the occupation regime and for the integrity and security of Ukraine. A representative of Telegram told Reuters that bots were “temporarily disabled due to a false positive but have since been reinstated,” without providing any further details.

The Freedom of Russia volunteer legion also reported that Telegram blocked its bots. Freedom of Russia is a legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, formed in March 2022 from former members of the Russian Armed Forces and other Russians—and some Belarusians—who defected to Ukraine to protect it from Russian invasion during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Telegram has become one of the most used applications among Ukrainian citizens, military command and authorities since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February of 2022. It is used, among other things, to publish important news and warn the population about threats, such as air raid alerts.

At the end of March, Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, registered a draft law, “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine regarding the regulation of the activities of information sharing platforms through which mass information is disseminated.” The draft law proposes to regulate Telegram within Ukraine. Representatives of Ukrainian intelligence agencies previously  expressed concern about Telegram’s cooperation with Russian security services. So far, the bill has been neither adopted nor rejected.