Russia adds Telegram founder Pavel Durov to wanted list over terrorism charges

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has formally charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism and placed him on an international wanted list. The accusation centers on the platform’s alleged failure to remove channels and bots used to coordinate sabotage and attacks within Russia.

Under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian criminal code, the security service claims Telegram’s inaction regarding content linked to “mass killings” and cyber fraud has resulted in billions of roubles in damage. The FSB further alleges this refusal has caused “numerous human casualties,” explicitly including women and children.

Durov dismissed the prosecution as “a sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.” He argued that the Kremlin is continuously inventing “new pretexts” to justify restricting the messaging app inside the country.

Telegram asserted that Moscow’s underlying objective is to cripple the application and migrate its user base to MAX. The company described this new state-backed messenger as being “engineered for mass surveillance and censorship.”

The dispute also involves claims about data security, with a Russian official alleging that Telegram’s encryption was compromised to allow foreign intelligence to read soldiers’ messages. Telegram flatly rejected this, stating that “no breaches of Telegram’s encryption have ever been found.” This stands against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, where the app remains indispensable for official statements and battlefield communications on both sides.

Pressure on the platform has mounted steadily, with Russia beginning to restrict Telegram in the summer of 2025 and opening a criminal case against Durov in February. Just two days prior to the new charges, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov complained that Telegram’s representatives had “not been very active” in ongoing talks.

Durov originally left Russia in 2014 after refusing to surrender user data to security services, preceding a failed two-year government ban on the app in 2018. Because Durov holds French and Emirati citizenship, extradition to Moscow is highly unlikely, making the wanted list a political signal rather than a practical route to a courtroom.

For European investors and tech regulators, this escalation highlights the growing friction between global encryption standards and state security demands. Durov now navigates a crowded legal map, facing prosecution in France following his 2024 arrest near Paris, while simultaneously being targeted by the country he left over a decade ago.

Despite the mounting legal and political pressure, Telegram remains one of the most widely used digital services in Russia. The state’s inability to dislodge the platform through technical restrictions has shifted its strategy toward targeting the founder himself.