Pavel Durov, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested on Saturday evening at Bourget airport, just outside Paris. The 39-year-old entrepreneur, who was traveling on his private jet from Azerbaijan, was reportedly the subject of an arrest warrant in France.
Durov, who holds dual citizenship in France and the UAE, currently resides in Dubai, where Telegram is based. He is expected to appear in court on Sunday. After leaving Russia in 2014 due to refusing to shut down opposition communities on his social platform VK, Durov focused on Telegram, which now has 900 million active users.
The Russian embassy in France is actively working to clarify the situation but has not yet received any formal appeals from Durov’s team. Telegram has not commented on the incident, and further developments are anticipated.