Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and issued an international warrant for his arrest.
The FSB said the charges stem from Telegram’s alleged failure to remove material “used by Ukrainian special services and by terrorist and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass killings, and cyber-fraud operations within the Russian Federation.”
Neither Durov nor Telegram immediately responded to the allegations.
Telegram, the encrypted messaging platform founded in 2013, says it has more than one billion users and is widely used by people on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia has repeatedly sought to limit Telegram’s use in recent years while promoting its state-backed MAX messaging service.
Durov, who was born in Russia and holds Emirati and French passports, founded the Russian social media platform VKontakte before selling his remaining stake in 2014 following pressure from Russian authorities.
The development comes as French authorities continue investigating Durov over allegations that Telegram failed to adequately tackle criminal activity on the platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement requests. Durov denies any wrongdoing.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
