There is no doubt about the widespread popularity of the messaging app Telegram in Russia. Russians, deprived of Facebook or X (formerly Twitter) since the ban on those American applications about two years ago, have long found refuge in Telegram, even prior to the ban. However, the horrific attack on the concert hall at Crocus City Hall in the outskirts of Moscow last week raised many questions about the popular app in the country. This is particularly true following the arrest of four individuals involved in the attack, some of whom admitted that they were contacted via Telegram for recruitment and urged to carry out the deadly attack that resulted in over 140 deaths, with around 95 still missing.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any current plans to ban the Telegram platform in Russia. In response to a question about whether Moscow intends to block Telegram, he stated, "There are no such plans at the moment." However, he added that the country expects Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, to pay more attention to the fact that this unique and technologically remarkable platform has increasingly become a tool in the hands of terrorists and is being used for terrorist purposes.
It is noteworthy that many Russian statements, particularly from the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had previously hinted at Ukrainian involvement in the attack, while ruling out ISIS, which had claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.
It is recalled that gunmen with rifles and bombs stormed the theater last week and began firing at civilians, resulting in dozens of fatalities. However, security forces later managed to apprehend all four armed suspects believed to have carried out the massacre at the concert hall, revealing that they were from Tajikistan and had been recruited via Telegram, according to their confessions.
