July 29 (UPI) -- Russia issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday for Telegram CEO Pavel Durov after charging him with facilitating terrorism, alleging Ukrainian intelligence agencies and terrorist groups had used the messaging app for covert operations and recruitment.
The Federal Security Service, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, alleges Telegram had been used "to prepare and co-ordinate acts of sabotage and terror" in Russia and flouted orders to delete channels, chats and bots used by Ukraine.
The FSB claimed Ukrainian secret services used a dating chat to draw Russians into "sabotage and terrorist activities through deception and psychological manipulation," saying 46 people, including minors were in detention.
The suspects are alleged to have "committed armed attacks on law enforcement officers, set fire to transport, energy, communications, and credit and financial system facilities."
Russian born Durov, 41, holds French and UAE passports and hasn't lived in Russia since 2014 and it was unclear if any country would execute the arrest warrant.
Durov did not immediately comment -- but responded with a photo post on the app's account on X showing him giving the finger.
Tens of millions of Russians are among the 950 million people around the world that use Telegram despite repeated efforts by the Kremlin -- largely unsuccessful -- to curtail its use over the past eight years, most recently in April when it blocked access in a bid to supplant it with a state-run alternative.
The criminal charges laid against Durov mark the latest escalation in that fight days after Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said authorities had reached out to Telegram to initiate negotiations on easing restrictions.
The mixed messaging, analysts said, pointed to a tussle within the Kremlin over whether going harder or easier on Telegram was the appropriate approach.
"For now, this appears less like the final chapter for Telegram in Russia than another round in the ongoing battle over its control," said Moscow-based political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov.
Use in Russia has continued with Russians using VPNs to circumvent the block and communicate with each other and it is popular among media keen to skirt Kremlin censorship, with Durov claiming 65 million daily users in the country.
It is also widely used in Ukraine and by the militaries of both countries.
Durov left Russia in 2014 due a falling out with authorities seeking data on users of Vkontakte, a Facebook-style platform he launched in 2006, that was being used to organize protests.
He has since positioned himself as a self-styled champion of free speech and runs Telegram on the principle of uncensored communication, making it a magnet for activists, dissidents and people around the world battling government restrictions preventing them from speaking out.
However, Telegram's free-wheeling approach to regulation and content moderation has also resulted in it being very attractive to criminals and a hub for disinformation and extremist content.
In summer 2024, Durov was arrested by French police as he stepped off his private jet at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, on suspicion of not taking action to prevent illegal activity on Telegram, including drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.
He was charged with facilitating criminal activity on the platform but released after four days on condition he remained in the country but was later allowed to fly back to Dubai.