Russia Charges Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, Issues Arrest Warrant

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and announced that it has issued an international warrant for his arrest. The agency alleged that the messaging platform failed to remove content used to coordinate terrorism, sabotage and cyber fraud within Russia. The latest action marks a significant escalation in the dispute between Russian authorities and Pavel Durov, who has consistently denied wrongdoing.

According to the FSB, the charges relate to Telegram’s alleged failure to remove material “used by Ukrainian special services and by terrorist and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass killings, and cyber-fraud operations within the Russian Federation.”

Neither Pavel Durov nor Telegram had issued an immediate response to the allegations.

Founded in 2013, Telegram has grown into one of the world’s largest encrypted messaging platforms, with more than one billion users. The application is widely used by people on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russian authorities have repeatedly attempted to restrict Telegram’s operations in recent years while promoting the state-backed MAX messaging service as an alternative.

Pavel Durov, who was born in Russia and now holds French and Emirati citizenship, previously founded VKontakte, often described as Russia’s equivalent of Facebook. He sold his remaining stake in the company in 2014 after facing pressure from Russian authorities.

The latest charges come as French authorities continue a separate investigation into allegations that Telegram failed to adequately tackle criminal activity on its platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement requests. Pavel Durov has denied those allegations.

The case is expected to draw international attention, given Telegram’s global reach and its role as one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms.

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