MOSCOW, July 29 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it had charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity, alleging that his hugely popular messaging app was being used by Ukrainian spies to organise attacks inside Russia.
In response, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of the Russian-born billionaire making an obscene gesture with his middle finger.
The charges, announced by the Federal Security Service (FSB), marked the culmination of a long investigation
against Dubai-based Durov and Telegram.
Moscow has effectively throttled the service as part of a wider campaign to cut off access to foreign tech platforms and tighten control over the internet.
Russians can only access Telegram now by using a VPN to encrypt traffic and conceal their location. Yet state bodies including the Kremlin and the defence ministry continue to post to it on a daily basis.
The app has been described as a "virtual battlefield" in the war between Russia and Ukraine, where it is used by officials, soldiers and influential bloggers on both sides.
In statements, the FSB and the state Investigative Committee said a chatbot available on Telegram called "Daivinchik/Leo" had been used by Ukrainian special services to recruit young Russians to carry out sabotage and terrorist operations.
Daivinchik/Leo is a popular dating chatbot in Russia, where Tinder is no longer available. The statement said Ukrainian spies posting as young women were using it to contact and entrap Russians before coercing them into committing crimes.
The FSB said 46 Russians aged 12 to 22 had been arrested in the past year after being recruited in this way to carry out attacks on law enforcement officers or set fire to transport, energy, communications or financial infrastructure.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
The FSB statement said Durov was being placed on an international wanted list, but it did not specify what mechanism Russia would use to do this.
The global police organisation Interpol did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If Moscow does request a Red Notice, however, the process is unlikely to be quick, said a source with knowledge of the situation.
Dubai, where Durov lives, has friendly relations with Moscow and growing ties in energy, business and finance. But handing him over to Russia could risk damaging the emirate's image as an attractive hub for enterprise and technology.
Durov posted that he was in Georgia last week, but his current whereabouts are unclear.
Born in Russia, he now holds Emirati and French passports. He founded Russia's Facebook equivalent, VKontakte, before selling his remaining stake in 2014 amid pressure from Russian authorities.
In 2024 he was arrested in France over allegations that Telegram failed to adequately counter criminal activity on the platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement requests. He was later allowed to leave the country while investigations continue.
Durov denies wrongdoing and says Telegram has exceeded its obligations to moderate content and cooperate with authorities to fight crime.
A Russian government newspaper reported in February that Durov was under investigation in a terrorism-related case. In April, he posted on Telegram that a summons for "Suspect P.V. Durov" had been delivered to an apartment in Russia where he lived 20 years ago.
"They must be suspecting me of defending Articles 29 and 23 of the Russian Constitution — which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to private correspondence. Proud to be guilty!" he wrote at the time.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter in Paris; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Felix Light; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
