Telegram Restores Ukrainian Government Bot Access After Temporary Blocking

JAKARTA - Telegram, a Dubai-based messaging app founded by Russian-blooded Pavel Durov, has returned access to a number of chatbots used by Ukraine's security agency to gather information about Russia's war efforts after the service was suspended.

Telegram bots are an automated feature that allows app users to send or request information. Some bots run by the Ukrainian government allow people to report the presence of Russian military equipment and personnel within Ukraine.

Kyiv's military spy agency, GUR, said in a statement shortly after midnight that Telegram had blocked a number of bots used by Ukraine to fight Russia's full-scale invasion.

"GUR states that the management of the Telegram platform is unnaturally blocking a number of official bots that have opposed Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, including the GUR bot," the statement said.

However, in the morning, Ukraine's Strategic Communication Center announced that three affected bots, used by the security services of SBU, GUR, and the digital ministry for war efforts, had reopened.

A Telegram spokesperson said the bots were "while disabled due to false positive results but had been restored," without providing further details.

Last week, Telegram founders said the company had received an official request from Apple about certain changes related to "public news and propaganda" channels that Ukrainian users could access.

He added that the company would still "delete accounts and bots that collect coordinates to target attacks or post direct personal information with the call of violence."

Telegram is widely used as a source of information in Ukraine and Russia, and has become the main venue for posting and accessing unscreened information about war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted his daily video address on the app, while his troops used it to warn Ukrainians about upcoming airstrikes and to document the development of the battlefield.