Russia's main domestic security agency said Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list. The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin's full control that has intensified since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, reports the AP. Durov earlier this year announced that the Russian authorities had opened a criminal investigation against him and accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of an attempt to "suppress the right to privacy and free speech."
The Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Telegram's administration of failing to remove "numerous channels, chats and bots" that are "actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, which resulted in "numerous human casualties." The agency accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for "sabotage and terrorist activities," and said 46 users of the chatbot, from 12 to 22 years old, have been detained across Russia since July 2025 for assaulting law enforcement officers, arson, and other acts.
Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have engaged in multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws, banned websites and platforms that don't comply, and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic. Multiple popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, have been banned in Russia; YouTube has been throttled; popular messaging apps, such as Signal and Viber, have been blocked, and the most popular ones—WhatsApp and Telegram—have been restricted. Russia's popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, had come under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-2020 but failed.
While it's still possible to circumvent some of the restrictions by using virtual private network services, many of those are routinely blocked, too. At the same time, Russia actively promotes the "national" messaging app known as MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. The platform is touted by developers and officials as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments, and more. It openly declares it will share user data with authorities upon request, and experts also say it doesn't use end-to-end encryption. If convicted, the entrepreneur could face up to life in prison in Russia.
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