Russia Charges Telegram CEO Pavel Durov With Aiding Terrorism
The charges escalate Russia's pressure on Telegram, which has already faced restrictions and regulation, while Durov openly defies Moscow with a middle-finger photo on the platform's official account.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
Russian authorities on July 29 charged Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism, accusing the platform of failing to remove channels and bots used to coordinate sabotage, terrorist acts, and cyber fraud in Russia. The FSB claims Ukrainian spies used the popular dating chatbot Daivinchik/Leo to recruit young Russians. Durov faces possible life imprisonment if convicted.
The FSB statement says the chatbot Daivinchik/Leo, popular in Russia, was exploited by Ukrainian spies posing as young women to contact young Russian men. Victims were lured with promises of movie or concert tickets via phishing links, and the money was funneled to Ukrainian military accounts for missile and drone attacks. Men were then threatened into participating in fake armed attacks, arson, and other operations under the guise of anti-terror security checks.
Durov, based in Dubai, has not commented directly, but his profile picture was changed to a terrorist-style photo. The charges follow a 2024 arrest in France on 12 counts including distribution of child abuse images and drug trafficking. Paris prosecutors say he remains under formal investigation there.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.