Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with 'facilitating terrorism', issues international arrest warrant
Moscow, July 29
Russia's Federal Security Service has charged Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and launched procedures to place him on the international wanted list, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.
The FSB said Durov, who heads Telegram's administration, has been charged under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which pertains to assistance to terrorist activity.
"Telegram administration head Pavel Durov has been charged... (with facilitating terrorist activities) as part of a criminal case under investigation, and an international warrant for his arrest has been issued," the FSB said, according to TASS.
According to TASS, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said Durov could also face arrest in absentia, highlighting it as a standard legal procedure required for extradition.
"This is a standard procedure required to extradite a person to Russia. A Russian court issues an arrest warrant in absentia, after which Russian law enforcement agencies begin seeking his extradition, including through Interpol. Durov will likely face the same," Zherebenkov told TASS.
Citing a legal representative, Sputnik reported that the criminal charges against Telegram's CEO Durov could carry a life sentence.
Sputnik, attributing information to the FSB, reported that Russian authorities accused Telegram of failing to remove channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services to coordinate terrorist attacks and mass-casualty operations inside Russia.
It further claimed that such activities had resulted in numerous fatalities, including women and children, and caused billions of dollars in material damage.
Sputnik also reported the FSB's allegation that Ukrainian operatives used Telegram's dating service to pose as young women, befriend Russian men and recruit them into carrying out terrorist activities.
The agency further claimed that since July 2025, Russian authorities had detained 46 young users of the dating service across 16 regions who were allegedly acting on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence to attack police officers and carry out arson attacks.
Earlier, the 41-year-old billionaire had been charged with crimes on Telegram, including the spread of child sexual abuse material, fraud and drug sales, according to French prosecutors.
At that time, Durov noted that operating a global communications platform is a tricky balance between privacy and security, adding that in Russia and Iran, the messaging company has been willing to be banned rather than cede to government demands.
— ANI
Reader Comments
I use Telegram daily for college group studies and news channels. It's sad to see such a useful platform being dragged into geopolitics. The dating service recruitment part sounds like a spy movie plot, but if it's true, there should be better oversight without killing the platform entirely.
Durov is the same guy who refused to hand over user data to Russia back in 2018, leading to a ban. Now they're coming back with terrorism charges - vendetta much? But India should take note: we need laws that balance security and privacy, not just blindly copy Russia or the West.
Interesting parallel with India's IT rules on traceability. Durov's stance is principled but naive - you can't run a global platform and expect to avoid all government scrutiny. The life sentence talk is extreme, but there has to be middle ground for platforms to cooperate on real terrorism threats.
Meanwhile Telegram is the only messaging app that works reliably during Indian internet shutdowns in Kashmir and Northeast. Governments love to blame platforms instead of addressing root causes of extremism. This is pure political theatre by Russia to scare other tech CEOs from pushing back.
Indian perspective: we've seen our government demand traceability for years. Durov's resistance is why Telegram remains popular for free speech in India too. But I can't ignore that the same platform is used by terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir. It's a difficult balance, and this Russia case shows the stakes are real.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.