‘Someone who refuses to cooperate with the FSB can’t be a hero’

Why Russian officials aren’t losing sleep over Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest

The Russian authorities were hardly fazed by the arrest on Saturday of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, whom French investigators say is being questioned in connection with charges including complicity in money laundering, drug trafficking, and child pornography distribution. According to sources who spoke to the investigative outlet Verstka, officials in Moscow saw Durov’s arrest as inevitable because “in the current geopolitical reality,” it would be impossible for someone like him to remain “completely neutral.” Meduza shares Verstka’s findings in English.

The Russian officials who spoke to Verstka about Pavel Durov’s arrest repeatedly referenced Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev’s Telegram post commenting on the situation. Saying the Telegram founder and the Kremlin now have “common enemies,” Medvedev recounted a conversation he allegedly had with Durov in which he warned the tech mogul that he would face problems outside of Russia due to his refusal to cooperate with law enforcement. “He’s Russian — which means [foreign governments view him as] unpredictable and dangerous,” Medvev wrote.

“The former president explained it all to you in plain language! A person who refuses to cooperate with the FSB is not a patriot and cannot be a hero. That’s why we’re not doing anything to spin a positive image of him,” said a source from the leadership of an organization that works for the Putin administration’s political team.

A security official who spoke to Verstka was even more blunt: “If we hadn’t ‘taken him in,’ then someone else was eventually going to. Holding a resource like that and being completely neutral during a geopolitical standoff is an impossible task.” A member of Russia’s Federal Assembly, meanwhile, said that Durov’s arrest confirms that Russian businessmen are “not safe outside of the country.” As further evidence of this claim, he sent a list of six other examples of the “destruction of crypto business teams” in which “everyone outside of Russia” ended up being arrested. This led the lawmaker to conclude that it’s “too late to help Durov” and that members of the “Telegram team” need to understand that working outside of Russia is the “worst possible decision.”

There was no widespread uniform reaction to Durov’s arrest among Russian regional officials. Despite media reports that a number of government agencies ordered their employees to wipe their Telegram message history, this directive apparently didn’t reach past the federal level. “It’s the weekend. We’re just sitting around and discussing Durov in Telegram chats. We’re basically watching from the sidelines,” one regional official told Verstka.

A source close to the leadership of Russia’s ruling party, United Russia, said they even saw a positive side to the situation. “It’s now clear that we’re not the only ones: totalitarian tendencies are a global trend. If they can do this even in France, it means that authorities elsewhere can certainly tighten the screws as well,” said a source from the leadership of a Kremlin-affiliated organization. At the same time, he said, the authorities don’t expect any significant reaction to Durov’s arrest from Russian society: “Telegram is still functioning, there are no blocks. And as for Durov himself, he’s not a national hero; he’s more of a figure from the gossip pages. In general, nobody will care much about his personal problems.”

Of course, the situation could take an alarming turn for the Kremlin if Durov or another top Telegram executive decides to cooperate with French law enforcement. Conflict Intelligence Team founder Ruslan Leviev has noted that Russia’s military uses the app not just for disseminating propaganda but also for communications at the front. If a Western intelligence agency gained access to users’ information, it could erode trust in the app among Russian security forces and push Moscow to ramp up efforts to block it.

At the same time, Russian military officials claim the army is prepared for a possible Telegram block. Alexey Zhuravlev, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, has said the military has “sufficient communication resources” to “not be too concerned” about Telegram. “I’m confident that if it becomes impossible to use the messenger, a substitute will quickly be found. Russian soldiers are resourceful and inventive, as they’ve proven on the battlefield. This will not impact military operations, and I’m sure the coordination of Russian troops will continue as usual,” he said.