Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism and added him to an international wanted list, accusing the platform of failing to remove channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence to recruit young Russians for sabotage and terrorism. The move escalates long-running tensions between the Kremlin and Durov, who left Russia in 2014, and comes as Moscow continues pushing citizens towards its state-backed MAX messenger while officials themselves still rely on Telegram for communications.

The FSB alleges Ukrainian operatives used the popular Telegram dating bot "Leo", which has over 13 million users, to pose as women, build fake romantic relationships with young Russian men, and then blackmail them via phishing links and fabricated law enforcement threats into carrying out armed attacks and arson against infrastructure. It says 46 Russian citizens aged 12 to 22 have been arrested since July 2025 in connection with the scheme. Leo was banned in Russia in December 2025 over alleged CSAM content and "LGBT propaganda", a designation tied to Russia's 2023 extremism ruling against the "international LGBT movement". Neither Durov nor Telegram has issued an official response, though Telegram's social media posted an image of Durov giving the camera his middle finger.