The Ukrainian government has banned the use of the Telegram messaging app on state and military mobile phones in a bid to prevent Russian spying.

Ukraine’s National Cyber Security Coordination Center announced on Friday that it had decided to restrict the use of Telegram by government agencies, critical infrastructure facilities, and the military.

Ukraine has banned use of the Telegram messaging app on official devices used by state officials, military personnel and critical workers because it believes its enemy Russia can spy on both messages and users,