Overview

• He told Lex Fridman he suspects a neighbor left something at his door and that within an hour he lost vision and hearing, struggled to breathe, and felt intense pain.
• Durov said he collapsed, woke the next day feeling extremely weak with burst blood vessels, and could not walk for two weeks.
• He said the episode occurred in 2018 as Telegram faced bans in Russia and Iran while he and his brother raised about $1.7 billion for the TON blockchain project.
• Investigative reporter Christo Grozev has said the described symptoms fit nerve‑agent poisoning and drew a parallel to the Skripal case, though no public forensic confirmation has been reported.
• Coverage notes Durov’s August 2024 arrest in France in a probe of Telegram’s alleged role in illicit activity, with judicial supervision later eased to allow limited travel.