The Use of Telegram in the Russian-Ukrainian War

Written by Alex To and Jack Que

Edited by Elisabeth Lean

In this article, I will explore the role of telegrams in influencing public opinion re Russian kill claims and tactics in the ongoing Russia Ukraine war. Historically, there is great precedent for overclaiming kills, highlighted by the use of exaggerated media in this war. In 2019, the Ukrainian people were introduced to the power of social media when the former comedian and actor Volodymr Zelenskyy campaigned to be president and won by a landslide. Over the past 11 months of the Russia-Ukraine war, both sides have tried various media-shaping techniques and narratives to be pushed both to the domestic and international public.

However, one Russian social media platform has stood out above all others, namely, Telegram. Telegram, made in 2013 is similar to Whatsapp in that super-groups of up to millions of people can be created.

In early March, a video surfaced on many Telegram channels of Zelenskyy supposedly asking for his troops to surrender. It was later proved that this was a deepfake. Other than this significant event, the first statistics that many audiences were drawn to in the opening weeks of the war, were the Ukrainian aircrafts claimed to be destroyed by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). On the 4th of April 2022, (as shown in the graphic below), the Russians claimed 125 aircrafts were destroyed. Using the figures from the World Air Forces Directory 2022, Ukraine had 131 active (combat-capable) aircraft in the air force, excluding trainers, but including the many obsolete Soviet-era aircraft from the mid Cold War. Moreover, during the Russian attack on Bakhmut, 5 aircraft (4 aeroplanes and 1 helicopter) were claimed destroyed in one day. As of 24th February 2023, exactly a year after the initial invasion, the claimed aeroplane losses stood at 387, which is frankly comical. Typically, aircraft are not seen to be captured, or resupplied.

Source: Russian Ministry of Defence Telegram

The sheer scale of information outreach that certain Telegram channels have is incredible. The Russian Ministry of Defence Telegram channel has almost 500,000 subscribers, and Solovyov, the Kremlin’s main propagandist, has 1.34 million subscribers. As a key player, Solovyov is particularly interesting. As of a decade ago, he declared multiple times that anyone seeking to start a war between Russia and Ukraine was a traitor, since Ukrainians were the “brothers'' of Russia. Yet in his Telegram releases and nightly talk show, he advocates for the bombing of civilian centres as well as taking Ukrainian children out of their homes so they can be safe from the “Fascist state.” In this way, Solovyov reinforces the talking points made by Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Other than overclaiming enemy losses, a lot of media releases on Telegram are images and videos, but these are still subjected to deceptive editing. Every media release has its purpose, and it is known that most Russian troops had their phones confiscated upon entering Ukraine. A video can be turned from a successful engagement to no engagement to a failed engagement with some creative editing. In the most egregious cases, these can come from claiming the other side’s videos are your own. The media releases that we see as audiences are only a very small part of everything that is happening on the battlefield, and may not accurately reflect reality.

In the actual combat footage that surfaces in Russian Telegram channels, there is many times a stunning lack of evidence. They sometimes include soldiers firing weapons and supposedly getting hits. Historically, there is great precedent for overclaiming kills. Sometimes a field of destroyed Russian vehicles can be turned into a reversal of a Ukrainian offensive with some creative changes to the video title. An interesting claim to look at here is the Russians using their tanks as indirect artillery fire. The claim here is that these tanks can hit targets up to 10km away. The most modern Russian tank in Ukraine right now, the T-90 series, has a maximum effective range of 6km, to say nothing of the museum pieces that have also been deployed, such as unmodernised T-62s.

There are more examples for this, such as the Guncam footage of Russian attack helicopters, claiming the destruction of Ukrainian “AFU armour and a command and control post”. In the footage, we can see the helicopter flies dangerously close to the ground, then tilts 19.5 degrees up, and fires a volley of unguided missiles, then immediately dives back down whilst dumping out flare and chaff from the rear. This is a pitch up attack, which can increase the range of these unguided rockets to up to 4 km. The reason behind the pitch up is to avoid the MANPADS risk of Ukraine forces by shooting outside of line of sight, and hoping that you do not get detected. The pitch up allows for increased range of its missiles, however the dispersion increases dramatically, and estimates suggest that only half the rockets can land in a 100 metre diameter. There have been questions raised about the sustainability of risking such an expensive system whilst using it as indirect airborne artillery. Media releases like this show us the true state of the battlefield - specifically on how pilots need to put great effort into minimising the danger presented by anti-air threats, and puts a more human perspective on the conflict than data on a screen.

Ka-52 seen pitched up to an angle of 19.5 degrees to fire a volley of rockets (orange smoke streaks)

The helicopter immediately turns tail and dumps out flares (bright spots are flares) Source: Russian Ministry of Defence Telegram

In no other war in history has social media taken on such a prevalent role. Telegram, Russian state TV and Z-trolls on Twitter have made the online media ecosystem incredibly complex through disinformation efforts. The reactions of the Russian, Ukrainian and international public will be drastically different, ranging from sneering cynicism to intense patriotism. However, it is irresponsible to put off the information coming from this online space, as they have a tangible effect on public opinion. And so, like so many events throughout history, it is immensely useful to immerse yourself in the experiences and opinions of individual soldiers, commanders and media personalities to make up for the dichotomy between the observed reality on the ground and the facade presented in official news channels.

Works Cited:

"Most Viewed Russian Telegram Channels 2023." Statista, 5 Apr. 2023, www.statista.com/statistics/1319998/most-viewed-telegram-channels-russia/.