Russia Issues Arrest Warrant, Telegram Boss Flips the Bird

Russia has indicted Telegram boss Pavel Durov on charges of facilitating terrorism, alleging the messaging app was used for recruitment by Ukrainian intelligence services. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the Russian-born Durov, who resides abroad.

Shortly after the indictment was announced, Telegram’s account on X posted an image of Durov raising his middle finger. The billionaire founder had previously accused Russian authorities of “inventing new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram”.

Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB, stated that Telegram had been used “to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terror” within Russia and had failed to remove channels and bots used by Ukraine. Telegram is popular in Russia, used by tens of millions of people, despite authorities having restricted access as part of a broader crackdown on internet freedom. The app is also popular in Ukraine.

Durov, 41, left Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform. He previously founded the popular Russian social media company VKontakte, dubbed “Russia’s Facebook”. It is unclear whether any country or authority will comply with the arrest warrant issued by Russia. Durov was previously arrested and placed under formal investigation in France in 2024 over allegations of failing to properly moderate the app to reduce criminality; he was released months later, with the investigation ongoing.