Moscow on Wednesday said it had issued an international wanted notice for Russian-born Telegram CEO Pavel Durov for "complicity in terrorism". Russian security services accused Durov of failing to remove "channels, chats and bots" on the popular messaging platform allegedly used by Ukraine to recruit people for deadly sabotage operations across Russia.
Russia announced on Wednesday that it issued an international wanted notice for Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov over accusations of "complicity in terrorism".
Russian-born Durov – a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and Emirati passports – has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet space.
"An international wanted notice has been issued ... for the head of the Telegram administration, P. Durov," Russian security services (FSB) said in a statement.
Durov's Telegram messenger is one of the country's main communications platforms, and officials have repeatedly tried to block access or thwart its success in a bid to pressure the CEO to hand over user data or push Russians to use an unencrypted state-backed alternative.
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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 organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, which resulted in “numerous human casualties”.
The agency said Ukrainian security services used 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.
Moscow frequently targets its political enemies on charges of supporting "terrorism" or "extremism".
If convicted, the entrepreneur could face up to life in prison in Russia.
Soon after the announcement, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of Durov making a rude gesture with his middle finger.
There was no other immediate comment from Durov or Telegram.
Durov, 41, lives in France, where he has also faced legal issues over allegations over the spread of illegal content on Telegram.
Born in Saint Petersburg, Durov founded VKontakte, a social media site widely known as "Russia's Facebook".
He was essentially forced out of the company as it came under pressure from the authorities in the mid 2010s and founded Telegram.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
