Over a year has passed since Russia’s tanks openly crossed the Ukrainian border and the lives of millions of Ukrainians turned into before-and-after. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine unfolded not only on the battlefield but also in the informational space, and Telegram has become one of those battlefields.

Telegram’s end-to-end encryption has proven to be a valuable tool for Ukrainians, allowing them to communicate securely – although the safety of Telegram is still a subject of debate, and end-to-end encryption isn’t the default option on the app. Nevertheless, Telegram has become one of the most popular messengers and news consumption sources in Ukraine, surpassing other popular apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Signal.

The app has also been instrumental for those in Ukraine who are documenting the conflict – journalists. Since the full-scale invasion began, many news channels, including Ukrainian independent media, have seen their Telegram audiences grow by many times. Some Western media giants have also seen the value in Telegram and started their channels.

In Ukraine, the app has become more than just a messenger; it’s a major news platform. The Fix has covered the role of Telegram on many occasions since the start of the war; let’s look at what’s the situation now.

Note: The mapping is based on data gathered by TGStat, a project that collects Telegram statistics. We looked into TGStat’s ranking of 100 Ukrainian Telegram channels based on subscribers on April 10, 2022; the data for independent media was collected separately from the TGStat 100 Telegram channels ranking. The data has limitations – notably, the very definition of “Ukrainian” is blurry in some major cases – but an overview can still give a useful glimpse into the Ukrainian Telegram segment.

Leading Ukrainian Telegram channels

Looking at the list of the top channels aimed at the Ukrainian audience, you will see that the most popular channels are in the news and media and political category (this classification is based on the channel’s self-determination, which might not necessarily be reflected in the content).

At the top of the list of the news & media category is Trukha Ukraine, a channel that before the full-scale invasion covered news specifically from the Kharkiv region. However, after February 2022 the channel significantly expanded its coverage and became a top channel in Ukraine. Its success is due to its use of user-submitted photos and videos, which meant fast updates and more visual content on the war. Trukha Ukraine is solely a Telegram channel, with no website, clear newsroom organisation or other attributes traditional news organisations have – similarly to many other top news channels.

These kinds of channels draw a lot of criticism. For example, Trukha’s alleged administrators have been accused of blackmail and drew criticism for posting videos and photos of Russian missile attacks, a practice prohibited by Ukrainian authorities for security reasons. Another huge concern is around the spread of disinformation and rumours. As the channels like Trukha Ukraine post very often, the content is often not properly vetted and needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Other leaders – bloggers, officials and local news

Telegram channels belonging to bloggers have proven to be quite popular. From the pro-Ukrainian Lachen Pyshe (Ihor Lachenkov) to the notorious pro-Kremlin Anatoliiy Sharii, personal blogger channels have only risen in popularity during the war, as many started reporting news and collecting donations. Another pro-Kremlin channel, Yurii Podolyaka, leads the rating. (However, the Ukrainianness of these pro-Kremlin channels is subject to debate – while bloggers like Sharii and Podolyaka are of Ukrainian background and cover Ukraine, they are based outside the country, and a chunk of their audience is also likely not Ukrainian).

Channels of officials and institutions is another popular category. The channel of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other official channels of institutions like the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense have a significant following. Additionally, popular local officials like the head of Mykolaiv regional administration, Vitaliy Kim also have a considerable audience.

Local news is another major category. These are mostly not journalistic outlets, but rather channels that, similarly to Trukha Ukraine’s model, rose to the top by relying on subscribers for materials they post and don’t have traditional newsroom organisation. Although they began as channels that focused on local politics and events, many of them started covering national news after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. It is not surprising that most of the local news channels on the top 100 list of Telegram channels are from the largest cities in Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro).

Traditional news outlets are trailing behind

Last year we reviewed how some of the main Ukrainian news media outlets were fairing on Telegram during the war. We found that news publishers have seen a huge growth in the first months, weeks and even days after the start of the full-scale invasion.

For this analysis, we looked at trusted online news publishers based on the 2022 white list from the Institute of Mass Information, which included 9 outlets. Unlike some other Telegram news channels, these media exist beyond Telegram and have a digital platform, newsroom structure and presence on other social media.

Trusted news outlets are represented on Telegram and some have a high number of subscribers; however, only public broadcaster Suspilne.News was able to make it to the top 100 Telegram channels. Part of Suspilne‘s success lies in its large network of local channels allowing quick updates from different corners of Ukraine.

Overall, although news outlets largely sustained subscriber numbers achieved in the first weeks of the full-scale war, they don’t see considerable growth now, particularly in the wake of news fatigue. Trusted publishers mostly trail channels like Trukha Ukraine by the number of subscribers, which raises concerns about the quality of news about Ukraine presented on Telegram.

The use of Telegram is a double-edged sword

As with every social media platform, Telegram is a double-edged sword. While it has been an invaluable source of information for millions of Ukrainians, the rating shows the platform has major issues with information reliability. Many of the top news channels have unclear editorial processes and source their content from their audiences, making their large audiences vulnerable to potential misinformation. This trend shows why trusted news outlets should invest more in their Telegram presence.

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Mapping of Telegram channels in Ukraine, a year into the full-scale war