Wanted Man: Russia Slaps Telegram's Durov on Interpol List for Aiding "Terrorism" 🚨

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and added him to an international wanted list, Interfax reported on Wednesday. The escalation follows reports from February that Russian authorities had opened a criminal case against the Telegram CEO, which Durov confirmed on X at the time, accusing authorities of manufacturing pretexts to restrict access to the platform. "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," Durov wrote.

According to the FSB, the charges stem from Telegram's alleged failure to remove channels, chats and bots that Ukrainian intelligence services, terrorist groups and extremist organizations used to coordinate attacks, recruit operatives and conduct cyber fraud. The agency also cited the platform's role in hosting extremist content and child pornography. The warrant marks the second major criminal proceeding Durov faces; he remains under investigation in France over alleged illegal activity on Telegram, though French authorities lifted earlier travel restrictions, permitting him to leave the country.

The development triggered an immediate sell-off in Gram, the token previously known as Toncoin, which fell more than 3% and extended its weekly decline to 12%. The drop underscored how closely Durov's legal entanglements continue to track with sentiment around the Telegram-linked crypto asset. The decline comes amid a broader pattern of regulatory pressure on messaging platforms that operate alongside digital assets, though Russian authorities have not linked the criminal case to Gram or any specific token.

The FSB's announcement was also reported by Sputnik on July 29, which said the agency claimed Telegram "is used by Ukrainian special services and by terrorist and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage." Telegram has previously pushed back against such allegations, with Durov framing the investigations as politically motivated attacks on encryption and user privacy. The Russian-born entrepreneur, who holds citizenship in both Russia and France, now faces parallel legal exposure in two jurisdictions while continuing to oversee a platform central to crypto community coordination.