Criminal case opened against Pavel Durov in Russia – media

Tengrinews.kz – The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, is reportedly being investigated in Russia as part of a criminal case under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which concerns aiding terrorist activity. The information was published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, citing materials from the Federal Security Service (FSS).

Similar reports were also published by Komsomolskaya Pravda. According to the outlet, more than 153,000 crimes have allegedly been committed via the Telegram platform since 2022, including 33,000 related to sabotage, terrorism and extremism. The FSB reportedly prevented 475 terrorist attacks that were allegedly planned through the messenger, including 61 planned mass attacks in schools.

The media outlets claim that Telegram was used to coordinate high-profile crimes, including the March 2024 terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, as well as alleged assassination attempts against Russian journalists. Law enforcement agencies also reportedly recorded around 700 cases of threats involving the collection of data on the routes and families of military personnel.

Telegram was launched by Pavel Durov in August 2013. The platform currently has more than 1 billion active users worldwide, including around 100 million in Russia.

According to the reports, Roskomnadzor has sent more than 150,000 requests to Telegram’s team demanding the removal of illegal content. At the time of publication, 154,981 channels, chats and bots had allegedly not been removed, including:

• 104,093 related to allegedly false information;
• 10,598 involving calls for extremism;
• 7,405 concerning court decisions;
• 4,168 involving the justification of extremist activity.

The outlets also outlined a timeline of regulatory measures against Telegram:

• Since 2021, fines totaling more than 141 million rubles have been imposed on the company, of which 49 million have reportedly been paid.
• In August 2025, voice calls within the app were restricted in Russia, which authorities say led to a 23 percent reduction in cybercrime.
• From February 10, 2026, Roskomnadzor reportedly increased traffic throttling of the messenger to 55 percent.

Recently, Pavel Durov commented publicly for the first time on the ban of Telegram in Russia, stating that restricting citizens’ freedoms is never the right solution.

In late September 2025, Durov also announced that the company would provide authorities with IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate the platform’s rules. He later clarified that Telegram has been sharing personal data in legally binding cases since 2018.

It should be noted that Durov was detained in France in August 2024. After being charged on six counts, including refusal to provide data in response to official requests, he was released on bail. In spring 2025, after receiving court permission, he left France and returned to the United Arab Emirates.

Later, Durov stated that even after a year, the criminal investigation against him had not found any wrongdoing by him or Telegram. He said the platform’s moderation practices comply with industry standards and that Telegram has always responded to legally binding requests from French authorities.