Russia has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism, alleging the messaging platform was used by Ukrainian intelligence services to recruit operatives and coordinate acts of sabotage inside Russia.
The FSB claimed Telegram failed to remove channels, chats and bots linked to the activity and has issued an international arrest warrant for the Russian-born entrepreneur, who lives abroad and holds French and UAE citizenship.
Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition groups on his previous platform VKontakte, has previously accused Moscow of trying to restrict access to Telegram. The company responded to the charges by posting an image of Durov raising his middle finger on X.
via BBC
