Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and puts him on wanted list

Russia’s main domestic security agency said Wednesday (July 29, 2026) that Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with “aiding terrorism” and put on an international wanted list.

Telegram’s administration has not removed “numerous channels, chats and bots” that are “actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud” in Russia, the agency said in a statement Wednesday,

The Federal Security Service is also known as the FSB.

Charges against Durov come as Russia restricts Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. Durov earlier this year announced that the Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation against him and accused them of fabricating pretexts to restrict access to Telegram as part of an attempt to “suppress the right to privacy and free speech.”