Russia’s Federal Security Service has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and initiated procedures to place him on an international wanted list…reports Asian Lite News Desk
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and launched procedures to place him on an international wanted list, according to Russian state news agencies.
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 relates to assisting 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.
The authorities have not disclosed Durov’s whereabouts or indicated whether the international arrest process has formally begun through Interpol.
According to TASS, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov said Russian authorities were likely to seek Durov’s arrest in absentia as part of the extradition process.
“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.
Russian news agency Sputnik, citing a legal representative, reported that the charges could carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if Durov is convicted.
The FSB has accused Telegram of failing to remove channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services to coordinate attacks inside Russia.
According to Sputnik, Russian authorities claim these online platforms were used to organise terrorist attacks and other operations that resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, and caused extensive property damage. These allegations have not been independently verified.
The FSB also alleged that Ukrainian intelligence operatives used Telegram’s dating service to pose as young women, establish contact with Russian men and recruit them to carry out attacks.
Russian authorities further claimed that since July 2025 they 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.
Ukraine has not publicly responded to the latest allegations.
The charges add to the legal challenges facing the 41-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, who has previously come under scrutiny in several countries over Telegram’s content moderation policies.
French prosecutors had earlier charged Durov with offences linked to activity on the messaging platform, including the alleged spread of child sexual abuse material, fraud and drug trafficking.
Following those proceedings, Durov defended Telegram’s approach, saying that operating a global communications platform requires balancing user privacy with security obligations.
He also stated that Telegram had previously accepted being banned in countries such as Russia and Iran rather than comply with government demands that, in the company’s view, would compromise user privacy.
Neither Durov nor Telegram has publicly commented on the latest charges announced by the FSB.
