The West is showing interest in the information circulating in the Telegram messenger, since Russian intelligence services are actively recruiting agents to carry out sabotage in Europe on this platform. At the same time, blocking Telegram in Ukraine is not an appropriate measure, since Ukrainian intelligence also uses this messenger to obtain important data.
The head of the Central Intelligence Directorate Andrey Kovalenko voiced his vision of the situation in an interview with the YouTube channel “RBK-Ukraine”, emphasizing that it has two key aspects. Details are reported by “URA-Inform”.
The first aspect is the increased regulation of social networks in Europe. In recent years, the European continent has begun to adopt laws that require tech companies to comply with certain requirements related to security and content control. Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, who had previously avoided any regulation, especially from the Ukrainian authorities, has found himself in a difficult situation. Europe, according to Kovalenko, reminds Durov that his actions must comply with the law, since he is a French citizen.
The second side is related to the activity of Russian intelligence. Kovalenko noted that Russian special services recruit people in France via Telegram to perform various tasks – from information attacks, such as anti-Ukrainian graffiti, to real sabotage, including blowing up railway tracks. This activity is of interest to Western intelligence agencies seeking to gain access to Telegram's internal information to expose Russian spy networks.
Kovalenko believes that the further development of Telegram will depend on the actions of Pavel Durov. If Durov makes the right decisions, the messenger may become safer for users. However, Kovalenko emphasizes that it is important to take into account not only geopolitical but also legislative aspects.
Thus, Kovalenko calls for a balanced approach and notes that noisy statements about blocking without specific plans are not a productive state position.
Earlier, Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson eloquently responded to the arrest of Pavel Durov in France.