The Kremlin recently moved to reduce usage of the popular messenger Telegram across the country and ordered the troops invading Ukraine to switch to MAX, a state-run service. Now, though, the military command seems to have realized that MAX is even less safe and is telling troops to reinstall Pavel Durov’s app on their devices.

After a tough beginning of 2026, Russia’s communication woes are having another moment, it seems.

The problems began in early February when Elon Musk imposed restrictions on unauthorized Russian access to Starlink satellites operated by Musk’s SpaceX company that provide high-speed internet.

It quickly turned out that the decision blunted Moscow’s advance, caused confusion among Russian soldiers, and handed an advantage to Ukrainian defenders. In some areas of the front, the Russians even had to retreat.

If that wasn’t enough, Moscow also moved to slow down Telegram, a platform with 93 million users in the country, citing the app’s failure to comply with Russian data laws.

The goal appears to be establishing a “sovereign internet” within Russia, sealed off from foreign influence. After all, since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has banned Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and X.

Instead, Moscow is now actively pushing Russians, including those fighting in Ukraine, to use the new state-controlled MAX app, which contains extensive tracking capabilities for surveillance and is now pre-installed on all phones in Russia.

But the backlash has been fierce. Pro-war bloggers have been particularly vocal in their criticism, and many soldiers have said that the loss of Telegram would hamper their ability to share battlefield information and conduct fundraising activities.

And now, it seems the Russian military command has realized the MAX messenger just isn’t safe and has banned the troops from using it at the front.

According to sources of Insider-T, an influential Telegram channel, the reality is that the “sovereign” app has proven “completely incompatible” with combat conditions.

“The reason for the ban sounds like a death sentence for the developers: critical security issues directly endangering the lives of soldiers and officers,” the channel claims.

“Despite colossal budgets and administrative pressure during implementation, MAX still lacks basic end-to-end encryption of messages.”

The news is unconfirmed, but Insider-T says this is a “purely pragmatic” decision. The troops now once again have to conduct all operational communications on Telegram.

Besides, the military appears to have received assurances that the upcoming ban on Telegram in Russia will not be extended to the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“While the state, with administrative force, pushes public sector employees, schoolchildren, and civilians into using a crude and unprotected product for the sake of 'digital sovereignty,’ the army de facto recognizes its professional incompetence. Telegram, paradoxically, is receiving the status of critical military infrastructure,” claims Insider-T.

Of course, contrary to popular myth, Telegram isn’t much safer. If users want to use end-to-end encryption on the platform, they have to turn on the feature manually – and not many do.

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