Russia’s FSB Issues Arrest Warrant for Telegram’s Durov Over Terrorism Charge

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it has formally charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and issued an international arrest warrant for him, according to local news agency Interfax. The move sharply escalates a criminal case Russian authorities first opened against Durov in February, and it lands on one of the highest-profile figures in the crypto and messaging world, given Telegram’s deep ties to the TON blockchain ecosystem.

The FSB alleges that Telegram failed to remove channels, chats and bots that Ukrainian intelligence services, terrorist groups and extremist organizations allegedly used to coordinate attacks, recruit operatives and run cyber fraud schemes. Russian authorities have not disclosed a timeline for extradition proceedings, and Durov’s current location has not been confirmed by either side.

A case Durov calls political pressure

The wanted-list designation follows an earlier criminal case Russian authorities opened against Durov in February, which he confirmed at the time in a post on X. Durov accused Moscow of manufacturing pretexts to restrict Russian access to Telegram, writing: “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.”

Telegram has not issued a public statement responding to the new terrorism-related charge as of publication. The platform has historically resisted government demands to hand over user data or restrict encrypted channels, a stance that has repeatedly put it at odds with regulators in Russia and elsewhere.

France’s separate probe still open

The Russian case is distinct from an ongoing French criminal investigation into alleged illegal activity on Telegram, which led to Durov’s arrest in France in 2024. French authorities lifted travel restrictions on Durov earlier this year, permitting him to leave the country, but that domestic case remains active and unresolved.

Durov now faces legal exposure on two fronts simultaneously — a French probe centered on platform moderation and content-related liability, and a newly hardened Russian case built around a terrorism-facilitation allegation carrying far heavier potential consequences, including an international manhunt.

Why crypto holders are watching

Telegram is not just a messaging app to crypto markets — it is the distribution layer for the TON blockchain and Toncoin, and Durov has previously signaled plans to roll out a native Gram crypto wallet inside the app. Any escalation that threatens Durov’s freedom of movement or Telegram’s operational continuity introduces a layer of key-person and platform risk for projects and users built around the TON ecosystem, even though neither source ties the charges directly to Telegram’s crypto features.

For now, there is no indication that Telegram’s messaging infrastructure or TON-related services have been disrupted. But the widening legal pressure from two separate jurisdictions adds a regulatory overhang that crypto builders relying on Telegram’s distribution and wallet integrations will need to factor into their risk assessments going forward.

Sources

• beincrypto.com
• cointelegraph.com