Telegram CEO Claims Near-Fatal Poisoning During Heightened Tensions With Russian Security in 2018

Pavel Durov Reveals He Survived Near-Fatal Poisoning Amid Telegram’s Clash With Russia

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has claimed that he narrowly survived a poisoning attempt in the spring of 2018, during a tense standoff between his messaging app and Russian authorities.

Speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast, Durov described returning to his rented townhouse to find a “weird neighbour” leaving something by his door.

“One hour after, when I was already in my bed… I felt very bad. I felt pain all over my body. I tried to get up and go to the bathroom, but while going there, I felt that functions of my body started to switch off.”

He added,

“That was the only instant in my life when I think I was dying. One thing I was certain about is, yeah, this is it.”

Durov recounted waking the next day on the floor, covered in broken blood vessels and unable to walk for two weeks.

The Russian-born entrepreneur said he never revealed the incident publicly at the time, prioritising Telegram’s operations and fundraising for its TON blockchain project, which had secured $1.7 billion across two rounds from 170 investors, including Russian billionaires.

Telegram Refuses Russian Demands Leading To Ban

The alleged poisoning coincided with Telegram’s refusal to provide encryption keys to Russia’s Federal Security Service, which sought access to user messaging data.

Russia responded by banning the app in April 2018.

The ban was lifted in 2020 after Telegram cooperated with terrorism-related investigations, though it reportedly had little impact on the app’s operations.

The period was also marked by other high-profile poisoning incidents linked to Russian intelligence.

In March 2018, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in the UK with a nerve agent, sparking international condemnation.

Christo Grozev Suggests Nerve Agent May Be Involved

Christo Grozev, the investigative journalist behind Bellingcat’s reporting on the Skripal and Navalny poisonings, said Durov’s described symptoms—intense pain, loss of vision and hearing, extreme weakness, and breathing difficulty—are consistent with nerve-agent poisoning.

Grozev urged Durov to provide further details to help identify the responsible party.

Claims of Political Pressure From France During Moldova Elections

Beyond the alleged 2018 poisoning, Durov has accused French intelligence of pressuring him last year to block pro-Russian Telegram channels linked to Moldova’s elections.

According to his social media post, French authorities suggested that compliance could influence a favourable statement from a judge who had ordered his arrest in August 2024.

Durov wrote on X,

“This was unacceptable on several levels. If the agency did in fact approach the judge — it constituted an attempt to interfere in the judicial process. If it did not, and merely claimed to have done so, then it was exploiting my legal situation in France to influence political developments in Eastern Europe.”

Durov’s Global Movements During Turbulent Years

Durov moved to Dubai in 2017 and spent most of 2018 there, while also visiting the UK, France, and Switzerland.

Investigations show he travelled to Russia 50 times between 2014 and 2021, despite being in self-imposed exile since 2014.

Grozev noted a “likely coincidence” that Durov left the UK one day after the Skripal suspects returned to Moscow.

Durov has reportedly not returned to Russia since October 2021.

Health Scare Highlights Risk For Tech Entrepreneurs

The incident demonstrates the extreme risks faced by tech entrepreneurs challenging state surveillance demands.

Durov said he only spoke about the poisoning now to set the record straight, emphasising that the experience was life-threatening.

“This is something I never talked about publicly because I didn’t want people to freak out.”