Overview
- Komsomolskaya Pravda and Rossiyskaya Gazeta report a criminal procedure in Russia targeting Pavel Durov under Article 205.1 for alleged assistance to terrorist activities.
- The FSB portrays Telegram as a potential threat, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov cites extensive violations and noncooperation by the platform.
- Russia’s Interior Ministry claims more than 153,000 crimes have been committed via Telegram, a figure used to justify heightened pressure on the service.
- Durov says he was notified of a case and rejects the accusations, arguing authorities are trying to push users to the Kremlin-approved MAX app that lacks end-to-end encryption.
- Ukrainian officials, following a series of bombings, say recruiting for attacks heavily used Telegram and call for restrictions, yet about 10 million Ukrainians rely on the app for communication and news.