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Russia has announced it is seeking the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, accusing him of complicity in terrorism by allowing the messaging platform to be used for recruitment by Ukraine’s security services.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that an international wanted notice has been issued for Durov, the Russian-born founder and chief executive of Telegram, although it did not specify the type of notice or whether foreign governments or law enforcement agencies would act on it.
“An international wanted notice has been issued… for the head of the Telegram administration, P. Durov,” it said in a statement.
The FSB alleged Telegram had been used as a recruitment platform for Ukrainian security services looking to coerce Russians to commit sabotage acts and that Durov had not removed “prohibited information”.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of using social media to recruit supporters and operatives since the war between the two countries began more than four years ago.
Durov, 41, has lived outside Russia for several years and holds French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. He has long been at odds with Russian authorities over demands to provide user data and cooperate with state regulators.
Telegram remains one of Russia’s most widely used communication platforms despite repeated attempts by Moscow to restrict or block the service in recent years.
Earlier in his career, Durov founded VKontakte, often referred to as Russia’s version of Facebook, but later left the company after it came under increasing pressure from Russian authorities.
He currently resides in France, where he has also faced legal scrutiny over allegations related to illegal content shared on Telegram.
The latest move comes as Russia promotes Max, a government-backed messaging platform developed by state-controlled social network VK, as an alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp.
Durov has previously criticised Max, describing it as a state-controlled application designed for surveillance and political censorship.
He has not publicly responded to the latest accusations by the FSB.
