The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia, the former KGB, declared this Wednesday an international search and capture for the founder of the internet messaging service Telegram, the Russian businessman Pavel Durov, after initiating a case against him for cooperation with terrorism. “Durov has been accused of collaborating with terrorist activities. He has been declared internationally wanted,” the entity states in a note published on its official portal. Neither Durov, who currently resides in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), nor Telegram have made comments.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported that the charges were related to Telegram’s omission, in violation of Russian laws, to remove material — including channels, chats, and bots — “used by Ukrainian secret services and by terrorist and extremist organizations to organize and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murders, and cyberfraud operations within the Russian Federation.” “This has caused numerous victims, including women and minors, as well as billions of dollars in material damage,” the service maintained.
In February of this year, the FSB claimed to have “reliable” evidence that Kiev could quickly obtain information and personal data published on Telegram messaging and use it for military purposes, according to several international media outlets citing the TASS agency. The entity detailed that Ukrainian intelligence agents posed as young women who, through deception, managed to receive transfers from their victims, after which they extorted them, accusing them of sending money to the enemy, to implicate them in attacks against law enforcement agents, arson against transport, energy, communications facilities, and banking institutions. Additionally, they forced them to serve as messengers in scam schemes targeting other victims, a crime also punishable under Russian laws.
According to lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov, who spoke to the Russian agency TASS, this is a very serious accusation that could be punished with life imprisonment if guilt is proven. He also noted that Durov could be arrested in absentia in Russia, after which Russian authorities would seek his extradition through Interpol.
The FSB has confirmed that over the past year it detained 46 young Russians aged between 18 and 22 who, after accessing the Telegram chatbot Daivinchik/Leo, supposedly a dating service, became involved in sabotage and terrorism activities.
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Telegram, an encrypted messaging application founded in 2013, claims to have more than one billion users and to be widely used on both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Along with WhatsApp, the application has been blocked in Russia after being accused of violating local laws and not removing prohibited content. To use it, Russians resort to VPN networks, a tool to evade restrictions that has become very popular.
The country also operates the state messaging service MAX, promoted by the Russian government and used by more than 86 million citizens, according to official statistics.
Durov, born in Saint Petersburg (Russia) 41 years ago, but with dual Emirati and French nationality, founded VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, before selling his remaining stake in 2014, pressured by Russian authorities. French authorities are also investigating Durov over accusations that Telegram did not adequately combat criminal activity on the platform and did not cooperate sufficiently with law enforcement requests. The businessman denies having committed any crime.
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