Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian use of the Russian-invented Telegram has skyrocketed. And the app is no longer just a messaging service but an apparently trusted news source.
In Ukraine and around the world Telegram has become far more than a messaging app. According to a 2025 study by the analytics service Telemetrio, the platform effectively now functions as essential infrastructure, used by millions of Ukrainians not only for news but increasingly for commerce.
The 2025 study is cited in an article for Texty, an independent Ukrainian outlet with a focus on data journalism. The piece highlights two central tensions at the heart of the country’s increasingly important relationship with Telegram.
First, that usage of this Russian-invented app boomed even as Moscow launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine. [The Teksty piece warns readers of security risks. Telegram inventor Pavel Durov is Russian born but was already out of the country when the app was developed, and the service denies any links to the Kremlin. The Kremlin has pressured the app and is threatening to block access within Russia as it promotes a home-grown equivalent called Max.] Second, that users cite Telegram among their most trusted news sources, despite vast numbers of anonymous accounts and swathes of unverified information. The app allows users not only to message each other individually or in groups, but also subscribe to channels, which disseminate information one-way.
The Texty piece reports that activity on the platform is intense: Ukrainian Telegram channels collectively publish between 11 and 14 million posts each month. This growth has tended to come in waves during moments of crisis, including Russia’s full-scale invasion and subsequent attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Posting patterns have even developed a predictable rhythm: Wednesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days, while the peak publishing time is around midday Kyiv time. In other words, Telegram increasingly operates less like a chaotic feed and more like a structured media market competing for attention in prime-time slots.
Politics dominates this ecosystem, in Ukraine as elsewhere, with more than 90% of Ukrainian users following news or political channels. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alone accumulated more than 16.2 billion views on Telegram. A distinct cluster of military commanders, defence officials and volunteers also commands large audiences.
Commercialisation of the app, meanwhile, is increasingly visible. Payment activity through the platform has surged: according to data from the mobile banking app monobank, the volume of payments made via Telegram has grown more than fourfold in just a year and a half. This shift is reflected in the growing number of service bots and verified brand accounts.
Telegram has evolved from a messaging tool into a marketplace – one where trust, attention and money are in play. While the app’s popularity has boomed worldwide – last year the app boasted some 11.3 million channels, up from 1.7 million in 2020 – in Ukraine its transformation is particularly striking.
Original article ‘Телеграм більше не месенджер. Це ринок, на якому змагаються за довіру, гроші та увагу’ by Sergey Mikhalkov was first published in Ukrainian on 5 January, 2026 in Texty.
It is available here.
Texty is an independent Ukrainian media outlet with a focus on data journalism
Summary by TM
