Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism, seeks his arrest

Russia's main domestic security agency said Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list.

The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin's full control that has intensified since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Soon after the charges were announced, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of Durov making an obscene gesture with his middle finger. There was no other immediate comment from Durov or Telegram.

The Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, accused Telegram's administration in a statement of failing to remove "numerous channels, chats and bots" that are "actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, which resulted in "numerous human casualties."

The agency accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for "sabotage and terrorist activities," and said 46 users of the chatbot, from 12 to 22 years old, have been detained across Russia since July 2025 for assaulting law enforcement officers, arson and other acts.

Durov earlier this year announced that the Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation against him and accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of an attempt to "suppress the right to privacy and free speech."

If convicted, the entrepreneur could face up to life in prison in Russia.

Telegram's official website says that the company is based in Dubai and that Durov, who holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, lives there, too.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have engaged in multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that don't comply and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Multiple popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, have been banned in Russia; YouTube has been throttled; popular messaging apps, such as Signal and Viber, have been blocked, and the most popular ones - WhatsApp and Telegram - have been restricted.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp said in a statement that Russia had "attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app," calling it an attempt to isolate "over 100 million users from private and secure communication."

WhatsApp called Russia's move to block the platform a "backwards step" that would lead to "less safety for people in Russia."

In February, CBS News found that while WhatsApp had been blocked for users inside Russia, it was still possible to use the app via a virtual private network (VPN), which is not illegal in the country, despite the Kremlin's ban.

Russia's popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, had come under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed.

While it's still possible to circumvent some of the restrictions by using virtual private network services, many of them are routinely blocked, too.

At the same time, Russia actively promotes the "national" messaging app known as MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. The platform is touted by developers and officials as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more. It openly declares it will share user data with authorities upon request, and experts also say it doesn't use end-to-end encryption.

Durov has faced criminal investigations elsewhere. In 2024, he was arrested in Paris over allegations that his platform was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. Durov said in March 2025 that he returned to Dubai after spending "several months" in France.

The Kremlin at the time criticized the French authorities for their move against Durov as "selective."

"I know that many countries have raised concerns about the platform being used in certain ways by certain individuals and entities whose activities could harm the economy or security of certain countries. I think the Russian government might also have had some questions," Putin said in September 2024, after Durov's arrest.

"But all platforms of this kind are guilty of this. If this is what they're doing to Durov, then others should probably be arrested," the Russian leader said, adding that the French government's "actions are not entirely clear to me, as they are selective."