KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has banned government officials, military personnel and other defense and critical infrastructure workers from installing the popular Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices, describing the move as necessary for national security during the war with Russia.
Ukraine’s National Cybersecurity Coordination Center said it issued the ban for the official devices of government employees, military personnel, security and defense workers, and critical infrastructure employees. The ban was announced Friday by Ukraine’s Security and Defense Council in a statement on Facebook.
During a meeting on Thursday, the Security Service of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Telegram is actively used by Russia for cyberattacks, phishing, spreading malware, establishing user locations and calibrating missile strikes.
An exception to the ban will be allowed for people who use the app in their official duties. Ukrainians are free to use the app in their personal devices.
The app is widely used in Ukraine not only for texting but also for reading news, including updates on Russian air attacks. It is also the primary way Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, engage with the public and relay war developments. Zelenskyy is likely to continue using Telegram in his public communications since it is in his official capacity.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said Russian intelligence services are able to access the personal messages of app users, including deleted messages, as well as their personal data, according to the statement.
“I have always advocated and continue to advocate for freedom of speech, but the issue of Telegram is not a matter of freedom of speech; it is a matter of national security,” Budanov said, according to the statement.
FILE - The logo for the Telegram messaging app is seen on a notebook screen in Munich, Germany, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Denver (AP) — Investigators were trying to figure out Friday what led an elevator to malfunction at a former Colorado gold mine, killing one person, injuring four others and leaving 12 people trapped for hours at the bottom of the tourist attraction 1,000 feet (305 meters) beneath the surface.
The elevator was descending into the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near the town of Cripple Creek in the mountains near Colorado Springs on Thursday when it had a mechanical problem around 500 feet (152 meters) beneath the surface, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said.
What exactly caused the visitor’s death was not immediately provided. The victim has yet to be identified.
Eleven other people, including two children, who were riding the elevator were rescued. Four had minor injuries including back pain, neck pain and arm pain, the sheriff said.
Twelve adults from a second group were trapped for about six hours Thursday below ground. They had access to water and used radios to communicate with authorities, who told them there was an elevator issue, Mikesell said.
Elevator accidents at mines are extremely rare, said Steven Schafrik, a University of Kentucky associate professor of mining engineering. They have been used by the industry to carry people and material since the mid-1800s, he said, and modern elevators are equipped with fail-safe devices that prevent them from falling far if there's a cable break.
“Stupid safe,” Schafrik said of mining elevators.
He declined to comment directly on the Colorado accident.
Mines that operate as tourist attractions in Colorado must designate someone to inspect the mines and the transportation systems daily, according to the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. Mikesell said he didn’t know the date of the last inspection at the Mollie Kathleen Mine. Records of the inspections weren’t immediately available online.
Changes to the elevator were made in 1988 after the mine came under new ownership, according to the mine's website. A second elevator that could carry nine people was suspended below the existing elevator, and a new motor was installed to accommodate the increased weight, the website says.
On Thursday night, engineers worked to make sure the elevator was working safely again before bringing the stranded visitors back up. That included sending the elevator down empty to the bottom of the shaft to make sure it could get back up without issues. The elevator ride typically takes about two minutes, according to the mine’s website.
The 12 stranded tourists were hoisted up in groups of four over a half-hour period, the sheriff's office said in a news release. They had been prepared to bring them up by rope if necessary, had the elevator not been usable.
The incident, which was reported to authorities at about noon, happened during the final week of the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine season before it shuts down for the winter, Mikesell said.
Cripple Creek is a town of about 1,100 in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Colorado Springs.
The mine opened in the 1800s and closed in 1961, but still operates tours. Its website describes a one-hour tour. It says visitors can see veins of gold in the rock and ride an underground tram.
A woman named Mollie Kathleen Gortner discovered the site of the mine in 1891 when she saw quartz laced with gold, according to the company’s website.
The mine’s phone was not accepting messages and no one immediately responded to a message submitted through its website.
Emergency personnel stage outside the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, Colo., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, after one person died in an equipment malfunction during a tour of the mine according to the Teller County Sheriff's Department. (Arthur Trickette-Wile/The Gazette via AP)
A winch brings up trapped mine visitors Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, Colo. (Arthur Trichett-Wile/The Gazette via AP)
First responders work the scene Thursday, Oct. 9, 2024, at Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, Colo. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/The Gazette via AP)
A police officer moves a barrier for an emergency vehicle Thursday, Oct. 9, 2024, at Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek, Colo. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/The Gazette via AP)
