Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov, tightens curbs on app

Russia has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and put him on an international wanted list. The case deepens Moscow's push to control online platforms, while Durov calls it an assault on privacy and free speech.

In Short

• FSB says extremist networks exploited Telegram channels, chats and bots inside Russia
• Agency linked a Telegram dating chatbot to recruitment for sabotage plots
• Authorities said 46 young users were detained across Russia since July

Russia's main domestic security agency has said Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been charged with aiding terrorism and placed on an international wanted list. The move came as Russian authorities imposed restrictions on Telegram, one of the country's most popular messaging apps, as part of a long-running effort to bring the internet under tighter Kremlin control that has intensified since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Durov, who was born in Russia and began his career there before moving abroad, said earlier this year that Russian authorities had opened a criminal investigation against him. He accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram in an attempt to "suppress the right to privacy and free speech". If convicted in Russia, he could face up to life in prison.

In a statement, the Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused Telegram's administration of failing to remove "numerous channels, chats and bots" that are "actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorists, and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, which it said resulted in "numerous human casualties". The agency also alleged that Ukrainian security services used a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for "sabotage and terrorist activities". It said 46 users of the chatbot, aged between 12 and 22, had been detained across Russia since July 2025 for assaulting law enforcement officers, arson and other acts.

Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its official website says the company is based in Dubai and that Durov, who holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, lives there. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have adopted restrictive laws, banned websites and platforms that do not comply, and worked on technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic. Facebook, Instagram and X have been banned in Russia, YouTube has been throttled, Signal and Viber have been blocked, and WhatsApp and Telegram have faced restrictions. VK, the Facebook-like platform founded by Durov before Telegram, later came under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia also tried and failed to block Telegram between 2018 and 2020. Although some users can still get around restrictions through virtual private networks, many of those services are routinely blocked as well. At the same time, Russia is promoting the "national" messaging app MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. Officials and developers present it as a one-stop platform for messaging, online government services, payments and more. The app openly says it will share user data with authorities on request, and experts say it does not use end-to-end encryption.

Durov has also faced criminal investigations outside Russia. In 2024, he was arrested in Paris over allegations that Telegram was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images. Durov said in March 2025 that he had returned to Dubai after spending "several months" in France. At the time, the Kremlin criticised the French authorities as "selective" in their move against him. In September 2024, after Durov's arrest, Putin said, "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." He added, "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," and said the French government's "actions are not entirely clear to me, as they are selective."

The case against Durov comes at a time when Russia is tightening control over online platforms, restricting Telegram while accusing it of failing to remove content linked to terrorism and sabotage, even as Durov rejects the action as an attack on privacy and free speech.

With PTI Inputs

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