Ministry of Digital Development: Foreign intelligence services have access to Telegram correspondence

Maksut Shadayev: Telegram ignored 150,000 requests to remove illegal content

The head of the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia, Maksut Shadayev, said that law enforcement agencies have direct evidence of foreign intelligence services accessing user correspondence in Telegram. Shadayev announced this during a speech in the State Duma.

We have direct confirmation from law enforcement agencies that, unfortunately, if at the beginning of 2022 Telegram was considered a fairly anonymous service, it was used by our military, now there are many facts that have been confirmed by our authorities that foreign intelligence services have access to correspondence in Telegram.
Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation

The minister also noted that the messenger ignored 150 thousand requests to remove illegal materials. The Ministry of Digital Development does not maintain contact with the Telegram administration, Shadayev emphasized.

Earlier, the Telegram channel Baza reported that the messenger may be completely blocked in Russia from April 1, 2026. Roskomnadzor did not deny this information.

At the same time, according to the head of the Duma Committee on Information Policy, Sergei Boyarsky, the Telegram administration maintains contact with Roskomnadzor. Boyarsky noted that the messenger "had, has and will remain" the opportunity to fulfill the requirements of Russian legislation, but the authorities cannot condone their non-compliance.

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2026-02-18 16:00:38 Olesya Mihaylova Social networks and Messengers Telegram Mincifry RF
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