Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been charged by Russian authorities with facilitating what they describe as Ukraine-instigated sabotage and terrorist activities within the Russian Federation. The tech entrepreneur, whose messaging platform has been under sustained pressure from Moscow's censors, has reportedly been placed on an international wanted list.

Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Pavel Durov

Russian authorities are pursuing Pavel Durov over allegations that he aided Ukraine's "terrorist activities" inside the country, local media reported on Wednesday. The reports indicate that he is now internationally wanted.

The charges originate from a criminal case launched following an investigation into a previously banned Telegram chatbot, according to disclosures by the business news outlet RBC and the daily newspaper Izvestia.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) asserts that the bot was used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies to lure and pressure Russian citizens into committing acts of sabotage.

The bot in question, "Dayvinchik/Leo – Dating, Communication, and New Friends," had already been prohibited by Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecom watchdog and media censor. The agency had earlier cited the bot's dissemination of content related to child pornography and LGBT propaganda, both of which are prohibited under Russian law.

The FSB now claims that Ukrainian operatives created fake accounts posing as women to attract young Russian citizens via the "Dayvinchik" platform. To pursue romantic relationships, the targeted men shared geolocation data for proposed meetings and purchased movie tickets and gifts through phishing links provided by the supposed romantic interests.

The unsuspecting victims were subsequently contacted by individuals impersonating employees of Russian law enforcement or other government agencies. These impersonators accused the victims of transferring funds to the Ukrainian armed forces and providing coordinates for missile and drone strikes against targets inside Russia.

The victims were then coerced into committing arson and carrying out other attacks, which were presented to them as "anti-terrorist security checks" and other fabricated "operational activities."

FSB Accuses Telegram of Failing to Remove Extremist Content

The FSB is accusing Telegram's administrators of failing to remove such content from this and other bots, chats, and channels that are also used by extremists and fraudsters.

The security service, working alongside Russia's interior ministry and investigative committee, has detained 46 individuals since last summer as part of this probe. Those detained range in age from 12 to 22. Some may face lengthy prison sentences for their involvement in various attacks, with charges including treason, armed assault, and attempted murder.

Durov Charged Under Anti-Terrorism Statute

According to Russian media reports, Pavel Durov has been charged under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Federation's Criminal Code, which covers providing "assistance to terrorist activity."

Criminal cases have also been opened under several other provisions, including sabotage, intentional destruction of or damage to property, and hooliganism, RBC reported.

Born in Russia and residing in Dubai, Durov's current whereabouts are unclear, Reuters noted in its coverage of the development. The news agency also reported that Interpol has not yet confirmed the FSB's assertion that the dual French-Emirati citizen has been placed on an international wanted list.

As of the time of writing, neither Telegram as a company nor Durov personally had issued formal comments on the matter. Earlier in the day, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of Durov making an obscene gesture (source).

The terrorism charges mark a new escalation in the long-running tension between Durov and the Russian state. Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to provide user data from VKontakte, the social network he co-founded, to Russian security services during the aftermath of Ukraine's Maidan protests. He subsequently sold his stake in VK and relocated, eventually building Telegram into a platform used by an estimated 900 million monthly active users worldwide. Telegram has also become one of the primary sources of real-time news and communication in both Russia and Ukraine since the full-scale war began in 2022, with government officials, military bloggers, and independent journalists on all sides relying on the app.

History of Pressure on Telegram

In 2024, Durov was detained in France as part of a separate investigation concerning allegations of insufficient content moderation. He was also accused of refusing to cooperate with French law enforcement.

Russian authorities have been attempting to restrict access to the widely used messenger. Roskomnadzor began efforts to slow down traffic to the platform in February, and multiple outages have been registered since then. The messaging service is now accessible to Russian residents primarily through VPN connections.

Russia previously attempted to block Telegram outright in 2018 after the company refused to share encryption keys with the FSB. That ban was lifted in 2020 after proving technically ineffective, as the platform remained widely accessible. The current campaign of throttling and legal pressure represents the most coordinated effort by Moscow against the platform since that reversal.

Regulators in Moscow have maintained that they are escalating pressure on the app in order to compel compliance with Russian law and to ensure action on thousands of requests to remove illegal content.

The Kremlin stated this week that it continues to reach out to Telegram's management regarding the restoration of access to the platform, but acknowledged there has been "little activity" to report.

Durov, who also serves as Telegram's chief executive, has accused Russian officials of imposing restrictions designed to force citizens to migrate to a state-controlled alternative messaging application called Max. The Max app, promoted by Russian state-affiliated entities, is part of a broader push under Russia's "sovereign internet" framework to shift domestic digital communication onto platforms subject to local data and surveillance requirements.