Overview
- The Russian security service FSB issued an international arrest warrant for Pawel Durow, which was announced on Wednesday and accuses him of aiding terrorism by failing to remove channels, chats and bots used to recruit people for sabotage.
- Rosfinmonitoring placed Durow on its 'terrorists and extremists' register on Thursday, a listing that can trigger asset freezes and restrict payments and transactions inside Russia and aligned jurisdictions.
- Telegram and its press office have rejected the charges and said their counter‑terror work is documented, while Durow — who holds French and UAE citizenship and lives abroad — posted a photograph on X giving the middle finger after the warrant was publicized.
- Moscow has already limited Telegram's features inside Russia and is promoting a state-backed, unencrypted alternative called Max, and experts say the designations could criminalize business and payment ties to Telegram inside Russia.
- The escalation builds on a long-running clash since 2018 over encryption and moderation, is complicated by parallel French probes and Durow's foreign residencies, and observers view it as pressure to force cooperation or push users onto state‑controlled platforms.