Post

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
Click again on or Share Via icon
Click on Copy Link to Tweet
Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
More info at Twitter Help

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 21 • 9 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

Russia plans to shut down Telegram in early April — even as its own military relies on app for all battlefield communication.

"That would be like shooting entire Russian army in the head" — Russian soldier to Politico. 1/

In February SpaceX cut off Starlink terminals used by Russian forces. Traffic inside Ukraine dropped 75%.

Days later Russian authorities began slowing down Telegram nationwide. Roskomnadzor plans full shutdown in April — though not on front line. 2/

Kremlin already blocked WhatsApp, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, FaceTime, Snapchat and X.

Apps Signal and Discord inaccessible since 2024. In March 3 Putin signed law requiring telecom operators to block internet at Federal Security Service request. 3/

Russia pushing citizens toward MAX — government-controlled messaging app launched March 2025, compared to China's WeChat.

Authorities steering Russians through employers, neighborhood chats, government services portal Gosuslugi, banks and retailers. 4/

Unlike China's centralized "Great Firewall," Russia's system operates internally. Internet providers required to route traffic through state-installed deep packet inspection equipment.

Klimarev, Internet Protection Society: "It's not one wall. It's thousands of fences." 5/

Pro-war Telegram channels view restrictions as sabotage of war effort.

Telegram used not only for battlefield coordination but for volunteer fundraising networks providing basic logistics — transport, fuel, body armor, trench materials, evacuation equipment. 6/

Roughly half of Russian internet users now know what VPN is, millions pay for one.

Levada Center polling: about one-quarter of Russians said they have used VPN services. I September Russia banned advertising for VPN services. 7/

Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center director Alexander Gabuev: Deepening digital isolation could turn Russia into "large, nuclear-armed North Korea and junior partner to China." 8X

Source: politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @Mylovanov

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

Niall Ferguson: If the United States is going to learn anything from what happened in the Black Sea, a lot of damage can be done with some fairly basic sea drones.

The Ukrainians created enough risk that the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been knocked out of the war. 1/

Ferguson: If U.S. is going to help the fleet insurers, they're going to have to step up on a much larger scale. The fiscal constraints of the U.S. are real.

Any great power that's spending more on interest payments on its debt than on defense will not be great indefinitely. 2/

Ferguson: If the Russians can build 4 million Shahed drones in a year, who knows how this can develop? Shahed drones are really easy to make.

They're still a major problem, and it's harder to track down somebody firing a Shahed than a ballistic missile. 3/

Read 7 tweets

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

“Do you wish to continue serving in the Russian Federation?” — “Why the fuck would I?”
That was 18-year-old cadet Dmytro Klymovych answering the Russian officer who seized their academy in Sevastopol. 1/

He was one of the cadets who sang the Ukrainian anthem while Russians raised their flag. During the full-scale invasion Russians took him prisoner — beating him day and night. Now he is home, making up for lost time with his son — Hromadske. 2/

March 20, 2014. Two days after Russia annexed Crimea. Russians raise their tricolor over the academy. Loudspeakers blast ceremonial music to drown out what happened next. Dozens of cadets ran onto the parade ground and sang the Ukrainian anthem. 3/

Read 12 tweets

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

“We must face reality — the West has split.”

Finland’s President Stubb: “Salvage what you can” of the trans-Atlantic alliance as Trump’s policies fracture relations with Europe and weaken pressure on Russia, Telegraph. 1/

Stubb: “I’m more pessimistic now, in that sense, more realistic.”

Stubb admits that Trump’s actions — tariffs, easing Russia sanctions, and acting without allies — have shifted the US policy away from Europe. 2/

Stubb: “Ukraine today is much better on the battlefield than it was a year ago. In the past 3 months, Ukraine has killed over 90,000 Russian soldiers.

Russians aren't able to recruit soldiers at the same pace they are losing them. 80% of the deaths come through drones.” 3/

Read 9 tweets

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

A Russian soldier surrendered via Telegram instead of fighting.

POW: I wrote to the “I Want to Live” hotline. A bot took my details and passport. I sent my location. Then they gave a password, passed me to another operator, and connected me with someone on the ground.

1/

POW: I came from conscription, spent 6–7 months without work. After a fight in the city, four people filed charges.

I got 3 years in a correctional facility and a $8,000 fine. I signed a contract to clear it and debts, but nothing was cleared. They sent me to assault units.

2/

POW: I was sent to Kupiansk and thrown into assault within a day.

Moved 13 km through a pipe, held a building for 5 months with no rotation or supply. We decided to surrender — otherwise we would die.

3/

Read 9 tweets

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

Russian commanders treat their own soldiers like disposable bodies.

They force men to fight each other to death, beat and electrocute them, strip them naked and tie them to trees in freezing cold.

Wounded men on crutches go straight back into assaults – Daily Mail. 1/

Videos show commanders chaining soldiers by the neck inside small boxes and mocking them with food

One man gets a plate thrown at his head while a commander pours water over him and tells him he will die there. Others get forced to crawl through mud while being kicked and hit 2/

In one clip, two naked soldiers lie in a pit while a commander fires bullets into the ground next to them and orders them to stay there.

In another, men tied to trees get beaten, threatened with execution and forced to bark like dogs while commanders humiliate them. 3/

Read 9 tweets

Tymofiy Mylovanov

@Mylovanov

Mar 22

Pomerantsev: We’re approaching a moment where discussion about Russia is not about countering disinformation to defend democracy.

But about how to “fuck Russia up,” because in a war you need to to beat the psychological daylight out of our enemy, not just defend democracy. 1/

Pomerantsev: Russia is trying to psych us out.

They’re hitting us with bombardments and then with loads of propaganda to make us feel unsettled and concerned and scared.

The best psychological defense teaches you how to work with your own emotions. 2X