Russia issues international arrest warrant for Telegram founder Pavel Durov

The Russian authorities have charged Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov with “facilitating terrorist activity” and issued an international arrest warrant against him, the Public Relations Centre of the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday.

According to the FSB, the charges stem from Telegram's refusal to delete channels and bots that Moscow claims are used by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out scams, sabotage operations, and terrorist attacks in Russia.

The case specifically cites Daivinchik, a Telegram-based dating platform that Russian investigators have accused of “luring young people into sabotage and terrorist activities.” The FSB claims that since July 2025, authorities have detained at least 46 Russians aged 12 to 22 who were recruited by Ukrainian intelligence through Daivinchik and went on to carry out arson, attacks on law enforcement, and financial scams.

Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor began throttling Telegram in February 2026, citing “security concerns”. In its place, the authorities have pushed the state-backed messaging platform Max, increasingly passing legislation that requires the “super app” to be used in various spheres of daily life.

In August 2024, Durov was detained at Paris’s Le Bourget Airport and charged with multiple offenses related to his failure to curb criminal activity on Telegram. He was later released on bail, though the French authorities’ investigation is ongoing.