Telegram Blocks Largest Chat Of Belarusians In Białystok

• 17.04.2025, 12:06

An attack from a Russian number is reported.

The chat “Biełastok | Belostok | Białystok”, the largest online community of Belarusians and Ukrainians in Białystok, has been blocked in Telegram. Administrators told MOST that the reason for the blocking was a targeted attack using an account registered to a Russian number. The attacker posted illegal content in the chat, which is why Telegram's moderation service intervened.

The offender was promptly blocked, and the content was deleted within half an hour. However, someone managed to take a screenshot of the message and send a complaint to the Telegram administration.

In addition, the chat administrators noticed that accounts linked to Russian numbers began joining en masse.

The chat administrators have already contacted the platform's support service and expect the work to be restored in the near future. Before the blocking, the chat had 7,418 subscribers.

The Biełastok chat was created in 2020 and initially united Belarusians who left the country after protests and repressions. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Ukrainian refugees who moved to the Podlaskie Voivodeship have also joined the community.