Relations between Moscow and Paris have reached a nadir following the arrest of Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday, after the tech billionaire’s detention was extended until Wednesday.
Durov, who has French as well as Russian nationality, was arrested near Paris over the weekend as part of an investigation into crimes related to images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said on Monday.
It remains unclear if he knew about the threat of arrest in France. Durov’s French lawyer did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Durov’s arrest has plunged Moscow-Paris ties to their lowest level, Lavrov said, capping months of deteriorating relations between the two nations.
French authorities accused Russia of trying to destabilise it ahead of the Paris Olympics in response to its more hawkish stance on the Ukraine war – claims Russia has denied.
Durov’s detention was extended by 48 hours late on Monday, a spokesperson for the Paris prosecutor’s office said yesterday. After that, prosecutors will either need to charge or release him.
With close to 1 billion users, Telegram is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It presents itself as a haven for free speech, but is also widely used by far-right, anti-vax and conspiracist movements, as well as political dissidents.
Without providing evidence, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, earlier said the United States, through France, was attempting to exert control over Telegram.
