Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with alleged facilitation of terrorist activity, according to a statement by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). The agency also claims the messaging platform failed to remove prohibited content in breach of Russian law.
In the FSB’s account, Telegram is said to have hosted channels, chats, and bots actively used—according to the agency—by Ukrainian special services as well as terrorist and extremist groups to coordinate attacks, sabotage, and cyber-fraud operations inside Russia.
What the FSB alleges
The FSB says Telegram “failed to remove numerous channels, chats, and bots” that it claims were being used to plan and coordinate violent acts. It specifically mentions sabotage and terrorism, mass killings, and cyber-fraud operations within the Russian Federation.
The agency further states that the alleged outcomes include “numerous casualties,” including women and children, and it claims damage reaching billions. Those details are presented as the result of actions the FSB attributes to the platform’s ecosystem.
The legal basis cited by Russian authorities
Alongside the content-removal accusations, the FSB says Durov has been charged in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation. The charge is linked to Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which the FSB frames as “aiding terrorist activity.”
The agency also reports that Durov has been placed on an international wanted list.
A Telegram bot called “Daivinchik” in the FSB narrative
The FSB adds a separate line of allegations involving a Telegram chatbot. It claims that Ukrainian special services used a bot described as “Daivinchik/Leo-Dating, Chatting, and New Friends” to recruit Russian citizens for sabotage and terrorist activities.
According to the FSB, the recruitment relied on deception and psychological manipulation. While the statement centers on Telegram, it also references a broader effort that, in the agency’s view, moves from online contact to real-world violence.
Detentions of minors, according to the FSB
In coordination with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee of Russia, the FSB says 46 Russian citizens aged 12 to 22 were detained between July 2025 and the time of the announcement. The agency claims these individuals carried out armed attacks on law enforcement officers and engaged in arson targeting transport, energy, communications, and financial infrastructure.
The FSB also describes alleged financial steps. It says some detainees acted as couriers, moving funds obtained from defrauded citizens to cryptocurrency exchange points for deposits into accounts controlled by an adversary.
How dating and phishing are described
The FSB claims Ukrainian intelligence agents used the Telegram dating service “Daivinchik” to disguise themselves as young women and initiate contact with young Russian men. After romantic relationships were built, the agency alleges the men were asked to share the geolocation of a desired meeting place.
In the FSB’s telling, the requested locations could include large shopping malls or areas near critical facilities. The FSB also alleges that the men were instructed to pay for tickets or gifts via phishing links shared by the agents.
Impersonation on other messaging apps, according to the report
In the next stage of the FSB’s narrative, representatives of Ukrainian intelligence services—posed by the agency as impostors—are said to contact the men through foreign messaging apps.
These individuals, the FSB alleges, pretended to be Russian law enforcement authorities or officials from Rosfinmonitoring, the federal financial monitoring service. The FSB states the impostors claimed that money sent by the men ended up in accounts associated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The agency also alleges that the geolocation information shared by the men was used to plan missile strikes and drone attacks.
Pressure, coercion, and “pseudo-operational” framing
The FSB further claims that the citizens it describes as deceived and intimidated were placed under psychological pressure. It says this prevented them from critically assessing the situation and left them unable to evaluate it independently.
In the FSB’s account, the individuals were then coerced under threats of criminal prosecution into carrying out armed attacks and acts of arson. The agency claims those activities were presented as checks on counter-terrorism security of the targeted facilities or as participation in other “pseudo-operational” actions.
Telegram’s response
In response to the development, Telegram’s official account on X posted an image showing the Telegram founder making a gesture with his middle finger. The report notes that Durov, who lives in Dubai, has not publicly commented on the case.
Broader restrictions mentioned in the same report
The allegations and charges arrive amid a history of Russian restrictions targeting Telegram. The report says Russia introduced throttling measures earlier in the year, followed by a near-complete blockade in April 2026.
It also mentions that almost two years before, Durov was arrested and charged in France for failing to address illicit activity on the messaging platform.
Why the case matters now
Even when authorities present detailed accusations, these cases also raise questions about platform responsibility, content moderation, and how online ecosystems can be used to enable harm. In this instance, the FSB’s claims tie together alleged recruitment, deception, phishing, and subsequent offline actions.
For users and observers, the key point is that Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov based on the agency’s view that the platform’s failure to remove specific content, combined with alleged misuse, contributed to violent and criminal outcomes.
Conclusion
Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov, according to the FSB, citing alleged terrorist facilitation and alleged violations related to removing prohibited information. The agency’s statement describes channels and bots used for planning attacks, including a “Daivinchik” dating service, as well as detentions of young people it says carried out violence and arson.
While the report details the allegations, Telegram has not provided a substantive public response in the same source beyond its social media reaction, and Durov has not commented publicly.
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2026/07/russia-charges-telegram-founder-pavel.html
