Russia charges Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with terrorism, issues global warrant
Russia has charged Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism and placed him on an international wanted list. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment under Russian law. The Federal Security Service alleges that Telegram failed to remove channels, chats, and bots linked to Ukrainian intelligence agencies and extremist groups that were allegedly used to coordinate sabotage, terrorist attacks, mass killings, and cyberfraud in Russia.
The FSB also claims Ukrainian security services used a popular Telegram dating chatbot to recruit Russians for sabotage and terrorism. Since July 2025, authorities have detained 46 users aged 12 to 22 over alleged offenses including attacks on police and arson. Responding on X, Durov said Russia had labeled him a terrorist because he refused demands for mass surveillance and censorship on Telegram, adding, “Russian officials are clearly confused about who can ban whom from the Internet 😉”
The charges come as Russia increases restrictions on Telegram as part of broader efforts to control online speech since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Durov, who holds French and Emirati citizenship, argues that the investigation is intended to undermine privacy and free expression. Durov also faced arrest and preliminary charges in France in 2024 over allegations that Telegram enabled illegal activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Telegram, which is headquartered in Dubai, had not immediately commented.
- Instant Messenger
- Freemium
- Proprietary
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External links
- Pavel Durov's Thread on X@durov on X • Official source
- Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and puts him on wanted listNBC News
- Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorismBBC News
- Russia Adds Telegram Founder Pavel Durov to ‘Terrorist and Extremist’ ListThe Moscow Times
- Russia charges Telegram founder Durov with aiding terrorism, he gives Moscow the fingerReuters
Comments
Well yes, to them, anyone who won’t fully fall in line with the superior nation that single-handedly defeated Hitler is a terrorist
I’m glad that I Use Brier Session Simple X Chat and Signal for my sensitive communications after both Telegram & WhatsApp blocked my main phone number for “security violations” pretty pathetic from big tech as usual
And then? Where does this Chat Control-like scheme goes next?
Even though he objected against such allegations,
Telegram being borderline proprietary and centralized (access to server code denied) meant that the second Russia successfully convicted Durov, Telegram will become another Social Control Media platform which controls the voices, the narratives, and the press as the channels, chats, and bots linked in the above article gets removed.
Remember: the "Big Brother" wants total control sans any accountability, just like the assault on speech two years ago. Never assume that existence of law will make Powerful and Rich entities obey (in this case, the Russian government above and the French government two years ago). At the end of the day, proprietary platforms you don't control works for the "Big Brother" so here's some libre platforms.
Worth separating two threads: the 2024 France case (content moderation failures, real accountability issue) versus this Russia case (terrorism charges from a government actively at war, with an obvious interest in a platform it can't surveil). Different category of claim, shouldn't be flattened together. Both Russia's framing and Durov's framing are self-serving accounts from parties with strong incentive to shape the story hard to verify either from the article alone. The dating-chatbot recruitment detail (ages 12-22) is the one claim worth watching for independent corroboration, since right now it's single-source from the FSB.
Terrorists, Friendly Local Substance Salesmen, and Furries- crazy userbase
Technically, both sides use Telegram as the default communication messenger in that war. And Durov was working with the Russian government for a long time, especially during "elections." He was also working with the French government on their warrants. I personally do not believe when billionaires become absolute free speech flag holders. If Russia were 90% of the Telegram market, he would have folded immediately. He knows that he cannot sit on two chairs, so he chose a bigger chair to sit in.