Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) has added Telegram founder Pavel Durov to its list of terrorists and extremists. An asterisk next to his name in the updated registry indicates that a criminal case has been opened against him under a 'terrorist' article of the Criminal Code.
The day before, the Federal Security Service (FSB) public relations center announced that Durov had been charged in absentia under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code (aiding terrorist activity). According to the investigation, Telegram's administration failed to remove channels, chats and bots that, the FSB alleges, were used by Ukrainian special services to coordinate sabotage and terrorist attacks in Russia. The agency also said it was beginning the procedure to place Durov on an international wanted list.
Separately, the case mentions a dating chatbot called 'Daivinchik.' The FSB claims that since July 2025, security forces have detained 46 Russians aged 12 to 22 who, it says, were recruited by Ukrainian special services through this bot. According to the agency, under the guise of girls, recruiters corresponded with young men, sent phishing links or asked them to pay for gifts (movie tickets, concert tickets). Then, people posing as law enforcement officers contacted the Russians, threatened them with criminal liability for transferring money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and pressured them into carrying out armed attacks and arson.
Inclusion on the Rosfinmonitoring list entails the freezing of bank accounts and property, as well as a ban on most financial transactions. State Duma deputy Andrei Svintsov recommended that Russians temporarily refrain from any payments in Telegram (purchasing subscriptions, TON cryptocurrency) pending clarification from Roskomnadzor and the FSB. Another deputy, Andrei Kolesnik, did not rule out that the messenger could be designated a terrorist resource.
In response to the charges, Telegram's official account on social network X posted a photograph showing Durov giving the middle finger. The founder of the messenger himself has not commented on the accusations. Earlier, as The Bell reports, Telegram began to be blocked in Russia after TASS published a story that the perpetrators of the attack at Crocus City Hall were recruited through the messenger.