Russia has formally charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities, escalating its long-running dispute with the messaging platform over allegations that it has been used to coordinate attacks inside the country.

The charges were announced on Wednesday by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which accused Durov of failing to remove Telegram channels, chats and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist groups and extremist organisations to plan sabotage, terrorist attacks, cyber fraud and mass killings.

According to the FSB, a Telegram chatbot known as “Daivinchik/Leo”, a dating service popular among young Russians, was exploited by Ukrainian operatives posing as women to recruit Russian youths for acts of sabotage. The agency said 46 people aged between 12 and 22 had been arrested over the past year in connection with such activities.

Russian authorities have also placed Durov on an international wanted list. It remains unclear how that would be enforced, as the billionaire entrepreneur is a citizen of both France and the United Arab Emirates and is based in Dubai.

In a swift response, Telegram’s official account on X posted an image of Durov making an obscene gesture towards Moscow, underscoring the company’s defiant stance amid mounting pressure from Russian authorities.

Durov has previously rejected allegations that Telegram enables criminal or terrorist activity, maintaining that the platform meets or exceeds its legal obligations to cooperate with law enforcement while protecting user privacy. Telegram has also denied repeated Russian claims that it is compromised by Western or Ukrainian intelligence services.

The case marks the latest chapter in Russia’s campaign to tighten control over digital communications. Although Russian regulators have imposed restrictions on Telegram and promoted the state-backed MAX messaging app, Telegram remains widely used by the public and even by Russian government institutions.