Russia’s “Secure” Max App Flagged as Security Risk, Troops in Ukraine Told to Stop Using It

Russian troops fighting in Ukraine have been advised not to use or install Russia’s state-backed messaging app Max, after pro-war military bloggers said the service was deemed insufficiently secure, according to The Moscow Times on February 23. 

The Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber, citing sources, said directives had reached military units to ban the “use and installation of the most secure national messenger in the world,” a sarcastic reference to Max.

Fighterbomber added that an “unmatched ‘canonical program’” would “very soon” be delivered to the forces for frontline communications, without identifying the platform. 

The reports come amid stepped-up pressure on Telegram by Russian authorities.

Roskomnadzor  said this month it would continue introducing restrictions on Telegram over what it described as failures to comply with Russian law and to counter fraud and terrorism.

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Russian Digital Development Ministry’s Maksud Shadayev said authorities would not block Telegram for troops in the war zone for now but warned that “foreign intelligence agencies have access to the messenger’s correspondence and are using this data against the Russian military.”

Earlier, it was reported that Russia’s Federal Security Service stated that Ukraine’s military and security agencies could rapidly obtain information shared via Telegram and use it for battlefield targeting, warning that the app’s use in combat zones had repeatedly endangered Russian troops.

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