Russia’s Federal Security Service is now pursuing a criminal terrorism case against Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram. The charge, “assistance to terrorist activities” under Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, carries up to 15 years in prison. The accusation was published Tuesday in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russia’s official state newspaper, which said the article was “based on materials from Russia’s Federal Security Service” and called Telegram “a tool for hybrid threats.”
The timing is hardly subtle. For months, Moscow has been throttling Telegram’s speed, blocking its voice and video calls, and pushing tens of millions of Russians toward MAX, a state-built messaging app with no end-to-end encryption, legally required integration with the FSB’s surveillance infrastructure, and a privacy policy that allows sharing user data with government authorities on request.
MAX has been pre-installed on every smartphone sold in Russia since September 2025. Telegram, used by more than 90 million Russians every month, is the target. MAX is the replacement. The terrorism charge against Durov is the lever.
Durov responded on his Telegram channel: “Russia has opened a criminal case against me for ‘aiding terrorism.’ Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech.”
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He called it “a sad spectacle of a state that is afraid of its own people.”
The Playbook: Label It Terrorism, Then Silence It
The FSB’s case rests on the claim that Telegram refused to hand over encryption keys and failed to delete content the Russian government deemed illegal.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta’s 1,500-word article accused the app of being a tool of NATO and Ukraine, used by “radicals” and “terrorists” and posing “threats to our society.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “a large number of violations and the unwillingness of Telegram’s administration to cooperate with our authorities have been recorded.” He added: “Our relevant authorities are taking the measures they deem appropriate.”
The language is revealing. “Unwillingness to cooperate” means Telegram refused to give the FSB backdoor access to private messages. “Taking measures they deem appropriate” means the Kremlin gets to decide what happens next, with no independent check on that power. The word “terrorism” does the heavy lifting: it transforms a dispute about encryption and content moderation into a national security emergency, bypassing any need to justify the proportionality of the response.
This is the oldest censorship trick in the authoritarian playbook. You don’t ban a platform because it lets people talk to each other. You ban it because “terrorists” use it. The definition of terrorist is, conveniently, whatever the government needs it to be.
What Russia Actually Wants
Durov identified the goal plainly on February 11: “Russia is restricting access to Telegram to force its citizens onto a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship.”
“This authoritarian move won’t change our course. Telegram stands for freedom and privacy, no matter the pressure,” he said, adding that Moscow’s attempt to strangle Telegram would ultimately fail.
The evidence supports his reading. Russia has already banned Facebook, Instagram, and X. It blocked WhatsApp entirely earlier this month. It has throttled Telegram’s traffic by 55%, according to Russia’s own communications regulator, Roskomnadzor. The destination for all of this displaced digital life is MAX, an app whose entire architecture is built around state access.
MAX has no end-to-end encryption. Messages are stored on Russian servers accessible to security services. The app is legally required to integrate with SORM, Russia’s surveillance system, giving the FSB real-time access to conversations, financial transactions, and geolocation data. Independent security researchers have documented that the app requests access to cameras, microphones, contacts, and biometric data.
