Pavel Durov

Pavel Durov is a technology entrepreneur and the chief executive officer of Telegram, an encrypted messaging platform he co-founded with his brother Nikolai Durov in 2013. He previously co-founded VKontakte, Russia's largest social networking site, before leaving the company and the country in 2014 amid pressure from Russian authorities over his refusal to comply with data requests. He currently resides in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered, and holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, France, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. As of July 2026, Russian authorities have charged him in absentia with aiding terrorism, accusing Telegram of failing to remove channels used by Ukrainian intelligence and extremist organizations to coordinate attacks in Russia.