Russia bans Discord, disrupting its military communication in Ukraine

Russia has imposed a ban on Discord, a popular communication platform widely used by its military for coordinating operations in Ukraine, according to an announcement by the internet regulator Roskomnadzor on 9 October. The decision has sparked criticism and renewed debates about technological shortcomings within the Russian Armed Forces, The Washington Post reports.

The ban has exposed the Russian military’s failure to implement a secure, domestically produced communications system more than two and a half years into the all-out war in Ukraine. Instead, troops have been relying on privately owned platforms such as Discord and Telegram for battlefield coordination.

Earlier, Russia blocked the Signal app and slowed down YouTube and WhatsApp as part of broader efforts to control media and communication platforms.

Russian “military bloggers,” who maintain direct communication with units fighting against Ukraine, have ridiculed the Discord ban. WP says one blogger criticized the lack of preparation, stating,

“A replacement should have been created and commanders should have been alerted to the plans so that the work at the front would simply not be broken in an instant.”

Military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, writing on his Telegram channel Rybar, highlighted the broader implications of the ban:

“From a military point of view, the main problem with the Discord ban is not even that some command posts may be left without broadcasting from drones, but that the relevant department of the Ministry of Defense does not seek to provide any alternative to the troops.”

Roskomnadzor justified the ban by citing the need “to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes, recruitment of citizens to commit them, sale of drugs, and in connection with the posting of illegal information.” The regulator had previously fined Discord for “failing to delete prohibited information.”

The move has also faced criticism from within the government. Communist Party member Denis Parfenov suggested that “prohibitive measures do not seem to be the optimal policy” and proposed implementing a parental control policy instead. Russian MP Vladislav Davankov pointed out the lack of adequate domestic alternatives to Discord’s functionality and announced his intention to appeal to Roskomnadzor.

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