Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov, seeks global arrest
What's new: The case targets Telegram's alleged failure to remove material Russia says aided sabotage, terrorism and cyber fraud.
Russia's Federal Security Service charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism and issued what state media and other reports described as an international arrest warrant. The FSB said the case centers on Telegram's alleged failure to remove material it claims was used by Ukrainian special services and terrorist and extremist groups to plan sabotage, terrorism, mass killings and cyber-fraud operations inside Russia. Telegram did not give a formal response, though its official X account posted an image of Durov raising his middle finger. Durov, a Russian-born founder of Telegram and VKontakte who holds French and Emirati citizenship, has long clashed with Moscow over online controls. His whereabouts were unclear, though recent posts suggested travel in Dubai and Georgia.