[roninorder]

1. Controlled opposition

2. They can dox and eliminate any real threat if they can monitor the most popular communication tool

According to many sources, Telegram is a vital communication tool of the Russian military in the war with Ukraine. If that's true, then there can be only two primary interpretations: 1. Russian gov is astoundingly incompetent 2. They are able to monitor Telegram

[archargelod]

Your theory is interesting, but the most popular social network in Russia is Vkontakte, not Telegram. It is indeed controlled by the government and any "illegal" liberal channels are banned on sight.

> If that's true, then there can be only two primary interpretations

There is a third possible explanation:

3. This particular war is full of misinformation and lies from both sides. Telegram can be used as a tool to spread your disinfo, masking it as truth.

I really doubt that russian military uses Telegram to coordinate anything, and if they do - it could be rare cases where soldiers haven't gone through any special training. But I can see how Telegram can be used to share other non-vital data. If it's true, then surely it's not incentive from above, but initiative from below.

You should keep in mind that it's not professional specialists on the battlefield, but mostly people who've been regular citizens just a few years ago.

[roninorder]

As far as I know VK is not nearly as popular as Telegram specifically as a communication tool, aka a messaging app. WhatsApp and Telegram being by far the most popular options in Russia.

> Telegram can be used as a tool to spread your disinfo, masking it as truth.

So can TV, newspapers, local websites, etc etc. And yet we know what happened to all Russian media that tried to spread messages contradicting the official position. I don't believe Russian gov (or Soviet for that matter) is confident enough to allow dissenting opinions to be spread on such a massive scale without a high degree of influence and/or monitoring.

I know usually the burden of proof is on the side of the conspiracists, but in this case I am not taking any chances. If it's a Russian company that is widely used by the Russian ideological state apparatus, I have zero trust in whatever their encryption promises are.