Russia has launched an investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov, accusing him of aiding and abetting terrorist activities.

PANews reported on February 24th that, according to ForkLog, multiple Russian media outlets, citing the Russian Federal Security Service, stated that Telegram founder Pavel Durov is under criminal investigation under Article 205.1, Paragraph 1.1 (Assisting Terrorism) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code for allegedly aiding and abetting terrorist activities. The investigation involves the dissemination of illegal content, accusing platform administrators of ignoring demands from Russian communications regulators to remove banned channels and chats, and alleging that Telegram has been used for criminal activities and the dissemination of materials from extremist and terrorist organizations.

In the summer of 2025, Russia's communications regulator began restricting the service due to an increase in fraud, and in February 2026, it strengthened its "traffic throttling" measures, citing the platform's non-compliance with Russian law. Durov responded at the time, stating that "Telegram defends freedom of expression and privacy."