Why Is Ukraine's President Zelenskyy Relying On A Russian-Origin App For Communication? Co-Founder Shares Historical Context

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy often uses Telegram to reach out to the public amid Russia's invasion of his country. As concerns grow around the safety of the application, its Russia-born co-founder Pavel Durov chipped in with a message about user privacy.

What Happened: "Some people wondered if Telegram is somehow less secure for Ukrainians, because I once lived in Russia," Durov said on his public Telegram channel on Monday.

https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/790/?embed=1

https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/790/?embed=1

Durov said the ongoing conflict was "personal for me and Telegram," as he has Ukrainian lineage on his mother's side and several relatives who still live in that country. 

He shared the story of how his career ended in Russia when he was CEO of social networking service VK.

“In 2013, the Russian security agency, FSB, demanded that I provide them the private data of the Ukrainian users of VK who were protesting against a pro-Russian President.”

FSB is Russia's premier security service and the successor of the Soviet Union’s KGB.

Durov said he had refused to comply with the demands because “it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users.”

“I lost my company and my home, but would do it again – without hesitation.”

See Also: How To Buy Facebook (FB) Shares

Why It Matters:  Zelenskyy is a prolific user of Telegram, with his channel having more than 1.4 million followers. 

He even campaigned on the platform during the 2019 elections in Ukraine, where it is the most popular messenger app, according to a report from The Guardian.

Telegram competes with Meta Platforms Inc’s FB WhatsApp and Messenger.

Durov recently changed his mind on blocking Telegram in countries involved with the conflict in Ukraine as many users said it was the only source of information for them, reported Russia’s Tass news agency. He had considered suspending services to curb the spread of fake news.

Russia this month banned both Facebook and Twitter Inc’s TWTR platforms after the two companies limited access to Russian media, according to a Forbes report. 

The country lifted a ban on Telegram in 2020 after years-long efforts to block the application failed, according to a Reuters report.

Telegram has drawn criticism from some over concerns related to end-to-end encryption. ​​Moxie Marlinspike, who founded rival security-focused app Signal, publicly gunned at the rival app in December. 

Telegram stores all your contacts, groups, media, and every message you've ever sent or received in plaintext on their servers. The app on your phone is just a "view" onto their servers, where the data actually lives.

Almost everything you see in the app, Telegram also sees

2/

— Moxie Marlinspike (@moxie) December 23, 2021

Marlinspike's Signal is backed by Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk.

Read Next: TikTok, Owned By China's ByteDance, Joins US Peers In Pulling Back From Russia

Photo: Courtesy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy/Telegram