Russia's Federal Security Service has formally charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorist activity, a charge that under Russian law can carry a sentence of life imprisonment. The FSB has also placed Durov on an international wanted list, escalating a legal campaign against the messaging app that has already cost the platform more than 100 million rubles, roughly $1.25 million, in fines levied against it so far this year.
According to the FSB, the case centers on Telegram's alleged failure to remove channels, chats and bots that Russian authorities say were used by Ukrainian intelligence services and extremist groups to coordinate sabotage operations, attacks and cyber fraud schemes inside Russia. The investigation itself was opened back in February, and Wednesday's charges mark its most serious escalation yet, directly naming Durov rather than the platform alone.
A Long-Running Standoff With Moscow
Telegram, which counts more than a billion users globally, has spent years resisting government demands to hand over user data or take down content that officials in various countries deem objectionable. Durov himself was previously detained by French authorities in 2024 over related content-moderation allegations, and the new Russian charges add another front to the legal pressure the entrepreneur has faced since.
Russian regulators have used fines as their primary lever against Telegram this year, but the shift to a criminal charge against Durov personally, one carrying the possibility of a life sentence, signals a marked hardening in Moscow's posture. The Kremlin has long accused Telegram of serving as a coordination tool for groups it considers hostile to the state, an accusation the company has consistently rejected.
Gram Wallet Rollout Continues Regardless
The legal pressure has not stopped Telegram's push deeper into crypto. Durov has said the company will roll out a native, non-custodial Gram wallet to every Telegram app, building on The Open Network's native token, which was renamed from Toncoin to Gram in June. The token supports payments, tokenized assets and Mini Apps directly inside the messaging platform.
Gram was trading near $1.42 at the time of the report, down 2.4% over the previous 24 hours, a modest move that suggests the market has not yet fully priced in the implications of a life-imprisonment charge against the network's most prominent public backer. Investors in TON-linked assets will likely watch closely for any sign that the case affects Telegram's ability to continue developing the wallet and broader crypto integration.
For now, Durov's whereabouts outside Russian jurisdiction insulate him from immediate arrest, but the international wanted-list listing complicates his travel and could invite further diplomatic friction as Telegram continues to expand its financial products atop the TON network.
