Telegram blocked Ukrainian military bots for data collection. About this, in particular, reports The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine on its official Telegram channel. The GUR has lost its «Main Intelligence Bot», and «eVorog» the Ministry of Digital Transformation, «Stop russian war bot» the SBU, and others, including the «Shahedov» tracking bot, are also down, as well as the one that reports the coordinates of Russian military facilities in southern Ukraine.
«Today, the management of the Telegram platform unreasonably blocked a number of official bots that countered Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, including the «Main Intelligence Bot». This was contrary to the rules and public statements made by the Telegram management,” the DIU said in a statement.
At the same time, fake Russian bots disguised as Ukrainian bots are operating without any obstacles to collect data. The intelligence service urges not to use bots on Telegram and not to transfer personal data there.
«We are already restoring the bot to other platforms. Communication channels are still available:
Official mail for communication: [email protected]
Signal: +38 096 945 53 41
WhatsApp: +38 096 945 53 41»
On April 24, Telegram owner Pavel Durov was not the first saidThe messenger will block channels that collect information for warfare. Officially, Telegram opposes the use of its capabilities with military duties.
«We still ban accounts and bots that collect coordinates to target attacks or publish direct personal information calling for violence. We don’t want Telegram to be a tool for violence — so please report such channels/bots to us if you see them».
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine’s bot «eVorog» has been operating since the first days of Russia’s full-scale military aggression. It was a secure channel of information transmission through which Ukrainian citizens, subject to verification in «Дія», could report information about the Russian occupiers to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. By data Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, as of March 2024, the chatbot has been used more than 570 thousand times. Specialists first analyzed the information received for accuracy and then sent it to the military, intelligence, or security services.