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Russian Officials Use Burner Phones to Avoid State Messaging App Surveillance
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Russian officials are reportedly using separate phones and SIM cards to install the state-backed messaging app Max, reflecting widespread distrust of the platform among government employees, lawmakers, and managers of state-owned companies.
This was reported by Faridaily on March 17, citing multiple sources in Russian authorities and state corporations.
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According to the Telegram channel, officials have been instructed to switch to the national messenger, which is promoted as an alternative to Telegram, but many prefer not to install it on their personal devices. Instead, they purchase additional smartphones and so-called “clean” SIM cards used only for the application.
“Everyone thinks that if you install Max on your phone, it’s the same as handing it over to the FSB,” one source close to the Russian government said, according to Faridaily.
Some officials register in the app using their regular phone numbers but still use separate devices for the service. The most cautious users reportedly avoid synchronizing contacts from their personal phones with the devices used for Max and treat the additional phones as work-only tools for communication with colleagues.
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Sources said many officials are reluctant to abandon Telegram despite pressure to switch to the state messenger.
“No one wants to leave Telegram. Everyone hopes that [Pavel] Durov will come up with something to bypass the blocks, or that the problem will somehow resolve itself,” a source said, as reported by Fairydaily.
Pressure to use the Max messenger is also being reported outside government structures, including in Russia’s education system. Students at the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at Moscow Pedagogical State University (MPGU) say they were required to register in the state-run messaging app Max and warned that they could lose access to their diplomas through the government services portal Gosuslugi if they refused.
According to the students, the university has begun transferring academic communication and administrative procedures to the state messenger. Screenshots published by the outlet show messages from the dean’s office telling students that registration in the app is necessary to continue using the university’s digital systems.
Ostorozhno, Novosti has obtained a copy of an order issued by the Russian Ministry of Education on February 13. The document instructs institute directors and deans, “in order to implement and use the Max messenger,” to hold meetings with students that include “a discussion about the use of the messenger,” and to submit reports on the outcome of those meetings.
Similar issues have also been reported in the Russian army, where servicemen are said to be resisting orders to switch to the state-controlled messenger. Russian troops in the Donetsk region have refused to comply with instructions to install MAX, according to agents of the ATESH partisan movement.
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