Russia Charges Telegram Founder With Aiding Terrorism for Allowing Ukrainian Intelligence Accounts

Russia has slapped terrorism charges on the founder and owner of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, placing him on an international wanted list for aiding and abetting Ukrainian intelligence and military forces. Russia’s Federal Security Service, FSB, said in a statement that Telegram — a cloud-based platform that allows groups to send encrypted messages — has not removed “numerous channels, chats and bots” used by “Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud” inside Russia. The security service said allowing Ukrainian forces to use Telegram to coordinate has led to “numerous human casualties.” The FSB alleges that Ukrainian security services have used a dating chatbot on Telegram to recruit Russians for “sabotage and terrorist activities.”Mr. Durov, who was born in Russia and holds dual citizenship from France and the United Arab Emirates, said earlier this year that Russian officials had launched a pretextual investigation into him to further restrict Telegram and “suppress the right to privacy and free speech.”After news of the charges, Telegram’s X account posted a picture of Mr. Durov giving a middle finger to the camera.Last August, Russia imposed restrictions on Telegram calls as its communications regulator Roskomnadzor said the platform failed to share information with officials in connection with fraud and terrorism cases. In February, the regulator sought to turn up the pressure even more, saying it would restrict voice and video calls on Telegram. Mr. Durov, a self-described libertarian who lives in Dubai, has previously said he would protect users’ freedom of speech and privacy “no matter the pressure.”Russian officials have sought to crackdown on social media platforms that do not comply with strict laws and demands to turn over information. Instead of popular apps like Telegram, Russian officials have suggested people should use the “national” messaging app, MAX, which has publicly said it will share user information with authorities. The crackdown on Telegram has been criticized by some Russian military bloggers who note that Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine also are known to use the app to communicate. In 2024, Mr. Durov was arrested at Paris on charges that Telegram was being used for drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Bail was set at $5.6 million and Mr. Durov was expected to stay in France until the end of the investigation. In 2025, he said that the investigation was still ongoing, but that he had been allowed to return to Dubai.

Russia Charges Telegram Founder With Aiding Terrorism for Allowing Ukrainian Intelligence Accounts

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