Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism

1 min readUpdated: Jul 29, 2026 12:28 PM IST Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, center, smiles following his meeting with Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara in Jakarta, Indonesia on August. (AP) Russia on Wednesday charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with “aiding terrorism” and has put the messaging app head on an international wanted list. The Federal Security Service (FSS), Russia’s main domestic security agency, alleged that 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, Associated Press reported.Durov, who became a French citizen in 2021