Sounds like an opinion piece without much justification and evidence. Occam's razor suggests that the uncertainty and longstanding high rate of inflation should explain currency devaluation. For years, the 1- to 5-year CD rate had been in the 20%-30% range. Compound that and add uncertainty related to the price of oil and international sanctions. Telegram sounds like red herring. If it has any effect, it's at the margin. It's simply a popular messaging app in that geo. Any other conclusion would likely be reading too much into this.
