Russia’s FSB charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism

Russia has launched an international search for Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov after formally charging him with “assisting terrorist activity”, escalating its campaign against the encrypted messaging platform that has become one of the world’s most influential communication tools.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Tuesday that Durov has been charged under Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code and that procedures have begun to place him on an international wanted list. If convicted, he could face up to life imprisonment under Russian law.

The charges centre on Telegram’s alleged refusal to remove channels, chat groups and bots that Russian authorities say have been used by Ukrainian intelligence services as well as terrorist and extremist organisations to plan attacks, coordinate acts of sabotage, organise cyber fraud and recruit participants for violent activities inside Russia.

According to the FSB, Telegram ignored more than 150,000 requests from Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, to remove what Moscow describes as illegal content.

Russian authorities claim that since 2022 more than 153,000 crimes have been committed using Telegram, including the organisation of terrorist attacks, targeted assassinations, attacks on military recruitment offices and large-scale cyber fraud schemes. The FSB also says it prevented 475 terrorist attacks allegedly coordinated through the platform, including dozens of planned school shootings.

The accusations have not been independently verified, and Telegram has not publicly responded to the latest Russian charges.

A platform caught between governments

Founded in 2013, Telegram has grown into one of the world’s largest messaging platforms, with more than one billion users worldwide. It has played a central role in communication since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, serving governments, journalists, soldiers, activists and civilians on both sides of the conflict.

The platform’s combination of encrypted private messaging and large public channels has also made it a frequent target of governments seeking greater control over online content.

Russia has repeatedly attempted to restrict Telegram’s operations over the past decade while simultaneously promoting its own state-backed messaging platform, MAX, as an alternative.

The latest criminal case marks the most serious legal step Moscow has taken directly against Durov himself.

From Russia to Dubai

Durov, 40, was born in Russia but no longer lives there. He holds citizenship of both the United Arab Emirates and France after leaving Russia more than a decade ago.

Before launching Telegram, he founded VKontakte (VK), Russia’s largest social network often described as the country’s equivalent of Facebook. He sold his stake in the company in 2014 after coming under pressure from Russian authorities, later accusing the Kremlin of seeking greater control over the platform.

Since relocating abroad, Durov has built Telegram into one of the world’s most valuable technology companies while cultivating an image of personal independence, frequently presenting himself as a defender of privacy and free expression against government interference.

Legal scrutiny in France

Russia is not the only country pursuing legal action against the billionaire entrepreneur.

French authorities are also investigating Durov over allegations that Telegram failed to take sufficient action against criminal activity conducted through the platform and did not adequately cooperate with law enforcement requests.

The investigation concerns accusations that Telegram’s moderation policies enabled organised crime, fraud and other illegal activities to flourish.

Durov has denied wrongdoing, while Telegram has rejected claims that it maintains inadequate moderation or fails to cooperate with legitimate legal requests.

The billionaire with more than 100 children

Away from the courtroom, Durov has attracted global attention for an unconventional personal life that has become almost as widely discussed as his business career.

Last year he revealed that, although he has never married and lives alone, he is the biological father of more than 100 children across 12 countries. Six of them were conceived naturally with three different partners, while the others were born through anonymous sperm donations over the past 15 years.

More recently, Durov announced that all of his children would inherit equal shares of his fortune, estimated at around $14 billion.

“They are all my children and will all have the same rights. I don’t want them to tear each other apart after my death,” he said in an interview with the French magazine Le Point.

Durov has described his extensive sperm donations as a contribution to addressing declining global fertility rates. He has previously said he began donating sperm to help a friend before expanding the practice after a fertility clinic encouraged him to continue, arguing that high-quality donors were in short supply.

He has also publicly encouraged other healthy men to become sperm donors in an effort to reduce the stigma surrounding assisted reproduction.

His remarks have fuelled an international debate among bioethicists and fertility specialists. While many support wider acceptance of sperm donation, experts have questioned whether a single donor should father such a large number of children, citing concerns about accidental relationships between genetic siblings, psychological implications for donor-conceived children and the absence of internationally harmonised limits on donor use.

Sources: BGNES, TASS, Reuters, The Guardian

Caption: Screenshot from Pavel Durov’s interview on Lex Fridman’s podcast.