Russia charged Pavel Durov, the founder, owner and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism and put him on an international wanted list, the country’s main domestic security agency said Wednesday.

The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin’s control that has intensified since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, accused Telegram’s administration in a statement of failing to remove “numerous channels, chats and bots” allegedly used by "Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, which resulted in “numerous human casualties.”

The agency accused Ukrainian security services of using a popular dating chatbot on Telegram to lure and recruit Russians for “sabotage and terrorist activities,” and said 46 users of the chatbot, from 12 to 22 years old, have been detained across Russia since July 2025 for assaulting law enforcement officers, arson and other acts.

Durov earlier this year announced that 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.”

If convicted, the entrepreneur could face up to life in prison in Russia.

Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its official website says that the company is based in Dubai and that Durov, who holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, lives there, too.

Russia restricted Telegram as part of unrelenting internet censorship

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian authorities have engaged in multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that don’t comply and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Multiple popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, have been banned in Russia; YouTube has been throttled; popular messaging apps, such as Signal and Viber, have been blocked, and the most popular ones — WhatsApp and Telegram — have been restricted.

Russia’s popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, had come under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed.

While it’s still possible to circumvent some of the restrictions by using virtual private network services, many of them are routinely blocked, too.

At the same time, Russia actively promotes what it calls a “national” messaging app known as MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. The platform is touted by developers and officials as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more. It openly declares it will share user data with authorities upon request, and experts also say it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption.

The move to restrict Telegram elicited widespread discontent in Russia, and this year activists in multiple Russian regions tried to organize protests against it, but authorities quashed nearly all their attempts.

Military bloggers have also lambasted the crackdown, arguing the app is an indispensable communications tool for Russian troops in Ukraine and for activists running crowdfunding campaigns to help Moscow’s forces.

The government initially promised not to restrict Telegram on the battlefield, but a different signal later came from the Kremlin.

At a meeting with Putin for International Women’s Day, a servicewoman called Telegram “an adversarial communications tool” and agreed with him when he said that “the use of communications systems that are not ours, not under our control, poses a danger to personnel” in battle.

Durov was arrested in France in 2024

Durov has faced criminal investigations elsewhere.

In 2024, he was arrested in Paris over allegations that his platform was being used for illicit activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse images.

French authorities handed him preliminary charges for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform. The Kremlin at the time criticized the French authorities for their move against Durov as “selective.”

In March 2025, the Telegram CEO said that he returned to Dubai after spending “several months” in France.

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This story has been corrected to show the potential penalty is life in prison, not 15 years.

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