Telegram CEO Durov Visited Russia Multiple Times Since 2014

August 28, 2024 06:12 PM AEST | By Team Kalkine Media

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Telegram CEO Durov Visited Russia Multiple Times Since 2014 — Image source: shutterstock

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An investigation by Important Stories, an independent Russian-language news outlet, appears to challenge Pavel Durov’s public statements regarding his travel history. On August 27, Durov, co-founder and CEO of Telegram, allegedly entered Russia over 50 times between 2015 and 2021.This information reportedly comes from leaked data from the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB), although Cointelegraph has not independently verified these claims.

Important Stories notes that the data was leaked no later than August 20 and was subsequently hidden on August 26. The outlet claims to have corroborated the data partially through conversations with an investigator connected to Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader. Durov reportedly did not attempt to conceal his travels, as he is said to have flown on commercial Aeroflot flights between St. Petersburg and various European cities, and used Russian Railway trains for travel between Russia and Helsinki, Finland.

Pavel Durov, a Russian national who co-founded VKontakte, a Russian social network, in 2006, left Russia in April 2014. He resigned as VKontakte’s CEO after refusing to comply with an FSB request to disclose the personal data of Ukrainian protesters and subsequently {crypto} sold his stake in the company. Despite Durov’s claim in an April interview with Tucker Carlson that he avoids traveling to countries inconsistent with Telegram's values, including Russia, the data suggests otherwise.

According to Important Stories, Durov made several visits to Russia between 2015 and 2017 and again between 2020 and 2021, with no documented travel to the country from 2018 to 2020. In 2018, the Russian government banned Telegram, reportedly due to the company's refusal to grant state agencies access to encrypted user messages; however, this ban was lifted in 2020.

Durov was arrested in France on August 24, facing allegations of inadequate moderation of illegal activities on Telegram. French authorities claim the platform has been used to facilitate drug trafficking, fraud, and organized crime.

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