Russia said it intends to put Telegram’s chief executive Pavel Durov on its international wanted list, escalating the Kremlin’s feud with the founder of the popular messaging app. Durov, who left Russia in 2014 and now holds French and Emirati citizenship, was accused by the FSB security service of “facilitating terrorist activities” by failing to remove chats on the app that it said were being used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies to orchestrate attacks on Russia.

The arrest warrant comes as Russia has made a broad push to restrict internet access this year, leading to painful shutdowns and outages that have regularly left people across the country without access to basic online services. Telegram has been a specific focus for authorities as it remains a rare space where Russians can switch with ease between reading patriotic military bloggers one moment and anti‑Kremlin opposition leaders the next. The charges can carry a sentence of up to 15 years, with the possibility of being extended to life imprisonment.

Telegram’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the charges and arrest warrant. On Wednesday, the Telegram messenger account on X reshared an old photograph of Durov showing a middle finger to the camera, interpreted by some users as a response to the charges. Durov rejected the accusations at the time, saying that Russian authorities were seeking to “fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram”.

Russia blocked Telegram in February, but users still access it via routine VPNs. The app, which enjoyed 90 m users in Russia before restrictions, now has more thanચાલ 1bn users worldwide, many drawn in particularly by its focus on protecting users’ privacy and anonymity.