Pavel Durov, the co-founder and chief executive of Telegram, is said to have at least over 50 visits to Russia between 2015 and 2021, according to a recent report. The report details that Durov’s movements were tracked through a database leak from the Kordon Border Guard database belonging to the FSB that came into the public domain on August 20.
Investigative journalist Andrei Zakharov reported the findings on August 26, albeit the database is no longer available for public access. The report confirmed the database’s accuracy through random sampling checks, and Georgy Alburov, one of the investigators from Alexei Navalny’s team, also verified it.
Durov’s alleged visits to Russia are noteworthy, given his past conflicts with Russian authorities. In 2014, he openly rebuffed the FSB’s demand for data on user protests and then sold his stake in Vkontakte before entering Russia, stating that he couldn’t comply with government demands. He even put out a manifesto, “Seven Reasons Not to Go Back to Russia,” condemning the governance of Russian authorities.
Even though he was in exile, it was reported that Durov traveled to Russia many times per year between 2015 and 2017 and from 2020 to 2021. His visits during this time were after he had left St. Petersburg in Dec 2017 when he moved to Dubai and embraced the development of the Telegram Open Network and the Gram cryptocurrency. His trips to Russia included occasional stops in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he used various modes of transport, including Aeroflot flights and Russian Railways trains.
Conflicts and Legal Battles Involving Telegram
A particular time of Durov’s trips was a legal battle over Telegram and the Russian government, especially when the FSB asked for encryption keys and then blocked Telegram. At the time, he was said to be under pressure to follow Russian data privacy laws, which he resisted, and as a result, Telegram was banned for a while.
However, the last time Durov visited Russia was June 18, 2020. It was shortly before the Russian government lifted the ban on Telegram. There was also a trip to Russia, which, after some time, Durov left and traveled to Belgrade, where he sorted out some more legal issues connected with the SEC case on Telegram.
By October 21, 2021, Durov had departed from Russia to Ibiza, so this was his very last trip back home. One of Durov’s assistants, who had previously managed Durov’s trips, goes to Russia, while Durov has not been back since then.
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