Russia Charges Telegram Founder Pavel Durov With Aiding Terrorism, Places Him On International Wanted List
· Free Press Journal
Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and placed him on an international wanted list, marking one of the most severe legal actions taken by Moscow against the entrepreneur to date. The charges come as Russian authorities continue to restrict access to Telegram, one of the country's most widely used messaging platforms, and mark an escalation of the Kremlin's long-running friction with Durov over the app's handling of extremist and terrorism-linked content.
What Russia's security agency has alleged
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The FSB said, according to Reuters, that Telegram's administration has failed to remove numerous channels, chats and bots that are actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, along with terrorist and extremist organisations, to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage, terrorism, mass murder and cyberfraud within Russia. The agency separately accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russian citizens for sabotage and terrorist activities, claiming that 46 users of the chatbot, aged between 12 and 22, have been detained across Russia since July 2025 in connection with assaults on law enforcement officers, arson, and other offences.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Announces Native Gram Crypto Wallet For All Users: DetailsDurov's history with Russian authorities
Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia before relocating abroad, had already flagged tension with Moscow earlier this year, announcing that Russian authorities had opened a criminal investigation against him. At the time, he accused the Russian government of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of a broader attempt to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. Telegram's official website states that the company is based in Dubai, and that Durov, who holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, resides there as well.
The stakes for Durov if convicted
If convicted on the aiding terrorism charge, Durov could face up to life imprisonment in Russia. The charges land within a longer-running effort by Russian authorities under President Vladimir Putin to bring the internet more firmly under Kremlin control, an effort that has intensified since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Telegram, despite the platform's Russian origins and its enormous user base within the country, has increasingly found itself at odds with the same government that once nurtured its early growth, as Moscow steps up pressure on platforms it views as insufficiently cooperative on content moderation tied to the war.