Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of Telegram, has been charged by Russian authorities with aiding terrorism and placed on an international wanted list. Russia’s Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, alleges that Telegram failed to remove channels, chats and bots that were used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies and extremist groups to organize terrorist attacks and cybercrime inside Russia. Officials also claimed a popular Telegram dating chatbot, Daivinchik/Leo, was used by Ukrainian operatives posing as young women to recruit Russians for inside information. The charges come as Russia continues tightening control over the internet following 2022’s full invasion of Ukraine. Durov, who has a net worth of up to $15 billion, also remains under investigation in France following his 2024 arrest over allegations that Telegram failed to control criminal activity on the platform.