According to an August 27 report by independent Russian-language news outlet Important Stories, Pavel Durov – Telegram co-founder and CEO – is said to have entered Russia more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021.
The report cites data about Durov’s activities leaked from the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s main intelligence agency. To date, no individual or organization has independently verified Important Stories’ claims. Telegram also did not respond to a request for comment from the press.
The data is believed to have been leaked on August 20 or earlier and hidden again on August 26. Important Stories said it had verified the data in part by speaking with an investigator with ties to Alexei Navalny, the former Russian opposition leader who died in prison in February.
Durov reportedly made no attempt to hide his travels. According to Important Stories, he flew between St. Petersburg, Russia, and various European cities on Aeroflot commercial flights and traveled from Russia to Helsinki, Finland on Russian Railways trains.
Telegram CEO is of Russian descent and co-founded VKontakte, a Russian social network, in 2006. In 2014, Durov said he refused to comply with an FSB request to disclose personal data of Ukrainian protesters, then resigned as CEO and sold his 12% stake to Ivan Tavrin, CEO of MegaFon.
Durov left Russia in April 2014. According to Important Stories, Durov's only public trip to Russia since then was in the fall of 2014, when he returned for a few days to sell his ICVA data center.
Source: Important Stories
According to Important Stories, Durov visited Russia several times between 2015 and 2017 and 2020 and 2021. The only time he did not visit Russia was between 2018 and 2020.
In an April interview with Tucker Carlson, Durov said he doesn't go to places that don't align with Telegram's values, including Russia.
“I go to places that I believe are consistent with what we do and our values. I don’t go to any major geopolitical power, countries like China, Russia or even the United States,” Durov told the conservative US journalist.
In 2018, the Russian government banned Telegram, reportedly because the app refused to give state agencies access to users' encrypted messages. Russia lifted the ban in 2020.
Durov was arrested in France on August 24. He is accused of failing to adequately police illegal activities on the messaging platform, which French authorities say has been used to facilitate drug trafficking, fraud and organized crime.
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