1/ Russian warbloggers are outraged at the Russian government's view that blocking Telegram is no big deal for frontline troops. They say it's a catastrophe heaped on the disaster of losing Starlink and that anyone who says Telegram isn't needed is talking "complete bullshit". ⬇️ 
2/ Dmitri Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, says: "I don't think it's possible to imagine frontline communications being provided via Telegram or some other messenger. It's difficult and impossible to imagine such a thing."
3/ However, it is very much a thing, as warbloggers have been pointing out furiously. 'Callsign Bruce' provides an example of how it is used to avoid friendly fire incidents:
"I'll give you a real-life example from one of the directions."
"I'll give you a real-life example from one of the directions."
4/ "A drone pilot is flying at night in free hunt mode. He approaches a grey zone where no one's "pencils" have been moving for a long time.
The pilot doesn't know the exact situation in this area because his neighbours are responsible for it.
The pilot doesn't know the exact situation in this area because his neighbours are responsible for it.
5/ "He's simply flying through this zone behind enemy lines to reap his harvest. And then, out of the blue, he sees a group of infantry moving in this very zone. A perfect target. But it's night, you can't see who it is, only heat signatures. And the zone is grey.
6/ "The pilot, not being an idiot, immediately reports this to the commander at the control centre via [Telegram]. Like, "Comrade Commander, check with your neighbours. What if it's ours? Maybe they've advanced?"
7/ "The commander logs into [Telegram ] and messages the neighbouring regiment, "Guys, there's movement at this point. Yours?"
It turns out it's ours. If the neighbours had been smarter, they would have warned the pilots from the start. But that's just the way it is.
It turns out it's ours. If the neighbours had been smarter, they would have warned the pilots from the start. But that's just the way it is.
8/ "So the pilot didn't engage his own troops and flew on to search for the enemy.
The moral of the story is that with other available means of communication, it wouldn't have been possible to clarify the situation so quickly.
The moral of the story is that with other available means of communication, it wouldn't have been possible to clarify the situation so quickly.
9/ "Either the pilot would have unknowingly engaged his own troops, or he would have missed the enemy group, thinking they were his own."
(Possible friendly fire incidents linked to the Starlink shutdown have already been reported.)
(Possible friendly fire incidents linked to the Starlink shutdown have already been reported.)
https://x.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/2019753824102097282
10/ 'Archangel Spetsnaz' reports what frontline troops are forecasting:
"The primary problem is the loss of interunit coordination: established communication channels will collapse."
"The primary problem is the loss of interunit coordination: established communication channels will collapse."
11/ "Without internet access at the front lines, the transmission of intelligence will slow, and the absence of Telegram will exacerbate this situation by adding a delay in information at the command level.
12/ "For example, a Mavic unit detects an enemy on the move at 10:00 a.m., transmits this information to its operational officers within a minute, then (without Telegram) via intercom to the unit commander, then to the reconnaissance command post, then from the reconnaissance…
13/ …command post, the information will be transmitted to the remaining units for fire engagement and then back to the unit. In the best-case scenario, the information will travel several hours, instead of 1-2 minutes via Telegram.
14/ "The intelligence will be irrelevant within 10-15 minutes, and fire engagement will be inadvisable, affecting the effectiveness of the troops.
15/ "With Telegram, interaction between operational officers is direct, and a response to a target occurs within seconds. A drone appears in the air a minute after detecting a target, allowing us to "catch" the enemy in motion.
16/ "This will essentially set us back a couple of years, roughly to the very beginning of the war. However, alternative methods are already being devised, and recovery will be a long process.
17/ "The current war is very dynamic, and the foundation of this dynamic is a rapid response to changing circumstances, so any delays will negatively impact combat operations.
18/ "Training will also suffer, since our entire front depends on it: training for the Mavics, which brings victory on the battlefield, will go to zero.
19/ "Information warfare will also suffer greatly, because it was built up over a long period, and now everything will simply be abandoned, and everything will fall to the enemy."
Platon Mamatov explains that "frontline communications are provided via Telegram."
Platon Mamatov explains that "frontline communications are provided via Telegram."
20/ "This includes coordination of actions within and between units, intelligence exchange, ensuring the fire engagement of targets, objective monitoring of the results of engagements, information support for logistics, evacuation of the wounded, and so on.
21/ "No alternatives to this method of communication have emerged in four years of war. And none are expected in the near future.
22/ "Radio communications are built primarily on mass-market Chinese radios and serve an auxiliary function of exchanging non-classified information over a distance of no more than ten kilometers."
23/ 'DSHRG Rusych' agrees, and adds:
"Everything relies on Telegram chats: information exchange, coordinates, broadcasts (often conducted on the now-blocked Discord), and so on. [Peskov's] degree of detachment from reality is simply astounding." /end
"Everything relies on Telegram chats: information exchange, coordinates, broadcasts (often conducted on the now-blocked Discord), and so on. [Peskov's] degree of detachment from reality is simply astounding." /end
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