Russia has charged Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov with allegedly facilitating terrorist activity and has begun the process of placing him on an international wanted list.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the charges on Wednesday, accusing Telegram of failing to remove channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services, terrorist groups and extremist organizations to coordinate sabotage, terrorist attacks, mass killings and cyberfraud in Russia.
The FSB said Durov was charged under a provision of Russia’s criminal code covering assistance to terrorist activity.
Russian authorities also claimed that activity carried out through Telegram had caused casualties and significant financial damage.
The FSB said international search proceedings for Durov had been launched. However, it did not specify what mechanism Russia would use, and there was no immediate confirmation that Interpol had issued a Red Notice.
Telegram responded through its official X account by posting an image of Durov making an obscene gesture toward Moscow.
Durov, who was born in Russia and now holds French and UAE citizenship, lives in Dubai. He has denied previous allegations of wrongdoing and has said Telegram meets its obligations to moderate illegal content and cooperate with authorities.
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