Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism as the Kremlin escalates its crackdown on the app
Russia has opened a criminal investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov on charges of facilitating terrorist activity, according to articles published February 24 in the nation’s newspaper of record, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Both pieces, reportedly based on Federal Security Service (FSB) materials, allege that Telegram is being used to commit crimes. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta article states that “the illusion of anonymity has drawn armies of radicals, drug addicts, killers, and terrorists to the messenger, which now poses a threat to [Russian] society.”
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The authors allege the app facilitated several high-profile crimes, citing the March 2024 terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and the killings of Darya Dugina and General Igor Kirillov. The FSB also accuses Telegram of becoming a wartime threat to Russia, calling it “the primary tool of the intelligence services of NATO countries and the ‘Kyiv regime.’”
Telegram has refused to comply with demands from Russian authorities, the articles say, forcing Moscow to take action. Rossiyskaya Gazeta’s report also credits Russia’s Internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, with raising Telegram’s “traffic degradation” to 55 percent.
Durov rejected the accusations in a post on X, calling the case politically motivated.
“Russia has opened a criminal case against me for ‘aiding terrorism,’” he wrote. “Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.”
Russia’s most recent round of restrictions on Telegram access began in the summer of 2025. In early February 2026, authorities intensified their throttling efforts, citing the need to bring Telegram into compliance with Russian law and ensure public safety.
Durov spent several days in French custody in the summer of 2024, facing charges related to Telegram’s alleged complicity in organized crime — including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material — as well as his refusal to cooperate with French investigators seeking user data. In the spring of 2025, French authorities permitted him to leave the country.
