Mumbai, July 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Wednesday charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and announced that it had issued an international arrest warrant against him, alleging that the messaging platform failed to remove content used to coordinate terrorism, sabotage and cybercrime operations within the country.
The FSB alleged that Telegram did not act against material purportedly used by Ukrainian special services, as well as terrorist and extremist organisations, to plan and coordinate acts of sabotage, terrorism, mass killings and cyber-fraud inside Russia.
There was no immediate response from either Durov or Telegram regarding the allegations.
Founded by Durov in 2013, Telegram has grown into one of the world’s largest messaging platforms, with more than one billion users worldwide. The platform has been widely used during the Russia-Ukraine conflict by individuals and organisations on both sides of the war for communication and information sharing.
The latest action marks a further escalation in Russia’s long-standing efforts to regulate Telegram. Moscow has previously attempted to curb the platform’s influence while promoting the state-backed MAX messaging application as a domestic alternative.
Durov, who was born in Russia and later acquired citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France, founded the Russian social networking platform VKontakte before selling his remaining stake in the company in 2014 following increasing pressure from Russian authorities.
The Russian case adds to the legal scrutiny the technology entrepreneur is facing internationally. In France, authorities are separately investigating allegations that Telegram failed to adequately curb criminal activity on its platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement agencies. Durov has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the French investigation.
FOLLOW NOW
