The Russian authorities have announced the issuance of a international arrest warrant towards Pavel Durovfounder and CEO of Telegram. The Federal Security Service (FSB) accuses the entrepreneur of complicity in terrorism as part of a criminal investigation directly involving the management of the messaging platform.
According to the FSB, Telegram would not have removed numerous channels, chats and bots that were allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services and organizations defined as terrorist or extremist to plan and coordinate acts of sabotage, attacks, computer fraud and other operations on the territory of the Russian Federation. Authorities say such activities have also resulted in casualties.
The initiative represents a new chapter in the long confrontation between the Kremlin and Telegram, one of the most popular messaging applications in Russia despite the increasing limitations imposed in recent years. Founded in 2013, the platform now claims over one billion users globally and is used extensively by both sides involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Durov, born in Russia but today also holds French and Emirati citizenshiphe expected the Russian authorities to open criminal proceedings against him. According to the entrepreneur, however, the accusations are a pretext to limit access to Telegram and reduce the spaces dedicated to privacy and freedom of expression online.
The action against Telegram is part of a broader strategy pursued by Vladimir Putin’s government to strengthen control over the national digital ecosystem, intensified after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In recent years Moscow has introduced more restrictive Internet regulations, blocking or limiting numerous foreign services who do not respect the authorities’ requests.
The affected platforms include Facebook, Instagram and X, which are banned in the country, while YouTube is subject to slowdowns and messaging applications such as Signal and Viber are blocked. WhatsApp and Telegram have also been subject to restrictions, although many users continue to access them via virtual private networks (VPNs), the spread of which has also been opposed by the Russian government.
In parallel, Russia is promoting MAX, a home-grown messaging platform and presented as an integrated service for communications, payments and access to public services.
For Durov this is yet another international judicial affair. In 2024 he was arrested in France as part of an investigation relating to the alleged use of Telegram for illicit activities, including drug trafficking and dissemination of child pornography. The French authorities also contested the platform’s alleged insufficient collaboration with the police. The entrepreneur then returned to Dubai in 2025.
