Russia investigates Pavel Durov in terrorism case

Russian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov on suspicion of aiding terrorist activity, according to materials from the FSB.

Official data from Russia’s Interior Ministry and security services reportedly links more than 153,000 crimes to Telegram between 2022 and 2024. Of those, around 33,000 are classified as terrorism-, sabotage-, or extremism-related offenses. The FSB also claims it prevented 475 terrorist attacks allegedly coordinated via the messenger, including 61 planned school shootings. Authorities further state that Telegram was used in organizing the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack and in gathering intelligence on the movements of military officials, bloggers, and journalists.

The report also asserts that Telegram can disclose users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to foreign governments upon request. However, Telegram’s publicly available privacy policy does not single out Russian users: the platform states it may provide limited data to authorities only in confirmed terrorism cases and under proper legal process.

Amid the escalating rhetoric, some Russian officials have floated the possibility of labeling Telegram an extremist platform and restricting financial transactions within the app.

Durov has strongly rejected the accusations, framing them as politically motivated pressure on the platform.

Russia has opened a criminal case against me for “aiding terrorism.” Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.