it's also weird that uae, russia and others rely so much on this tech

Because they're not gonna use american alternatives and Russia is playing politics while UAE provided refuge to Pavel Durov when he fled from Russia.

In fact, Russia has tried to ban Telegram in the past but accidentally ended up nuking the country's internet instead. Since then, they've lifted the ban since most people in Russia and neighbouring countries use this app.

It's also used widely in Iran and countries where there's government oppression.