Durov Charged by Russia with Aiding Terrorism, Placed on Wanted List
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorist activities and placed him on an international wanted list. The FSB’s public relations center announced Wednesday that Durov faces charges under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian criminal code, according to the local news agency Interfax.
The FSB alleges that Telegram has failed to remove channels, chats, and bots that are “actively used by Ukrainian special services, terrorist and extremist organizations” to plan and coordinate sabotage, mass killings, and cyber fraud within Russia. The agency cited resulting deaths, including women and children, and billions in material damage as consequences.
Minutes after the announcement, the FSB reported the detention of 46 Russians who allegedly were recruited by Ukraine through a Telegram dating bot.
Shortly after the charges were revealed, Telegram’s official account on X posted a photograph of Durov making a middle-finger gesture, which The Moscow Times interpreted as a response to the warrant. Durov has not directly commented on Wednesday’s charges. In February, when the case was initially opened, he tweeted that authorities were “fabricating new pretexts” to limit Russians’ access to Telegram, calling it “a sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.”
International Status and Previous Legal Battles
A Russian wanted-list designation is a domestic measure and does not obligate other countries to take action. Durov has resided outside of Russia since 2014 and is currently based in Dubai. AFP has reported that he holds at least four passports: Russian, French, Emirati, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Any Interpol notice would necessitate a separate request and Interpol’s own review process.
Durov was previously indicted in France in 2024 on charges including drug trafficking, organized fraud, and possession of child sexual abuse material on Telegram. He was released under judicial supervision on a €5 million ($5.5 million) bond. Both the Russian and French cases hinge on the same assertion: that Telegram refuses to remove content or cooperate with investigators, a claim brought by governments on opposing sides of the war in Ukraine. Durov denies any wrongdoing and has described the French case as “legally and logically absurd.”
Russia’s Ongoing Pressure on Telegram
Russia began restricting access to Telegram in August of last year and has since fined the platform 100 million rubles ($1.3 million) this year, primarily for failing to delete prohibited content, Interfax reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Monday that discussions regarding the restoration of the service are ongoing, though Telegram’s representatives have been “not very active.” The Russian state has been promoting its own MAX messenger, which activists have criticized as a “digital trap.”
Telegram’s Expansion Plans
This month, Telegram announced its intention to roll out a native, non-custodial GRAM wallet to over a billion users, a launch Durov described as the largest in history. The token, which was renamed from Toncoin in June following an 81% community vote, saw a 7% increase in value upon this announcement.
On Wednesday, GRAM was trading at $1.42, down 2.5%, according to data from CoinGecko.
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