The Kremlin is trying to calm fears that the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France, the messaging platform, which is very popular in Russia and plays a key role in coordinating the war effort in Ukraine, could be turned upside down.
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that calls for users to delete their sensitive messages on the app, including those from the editor of Russian state news RT, were “completely stupid.”
Peskov added that although the accusations against Durovwho was born in Russia but also holds French and UAE nationality, were to be “serious”, the French authorities would have to provide “equally serious” evidence to support their claims.
“Otherwise, there will be a direct attempt to restrict freedom of communication. And we can even say direct intimidation of the head of a large company. That means that politics will be involved, something that Mr Macron denied yesterday,” Peskov said.
The Kremlin’s move to allay concerns about Telegram’s future security underscores how important the app has become to the Russian military.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the decision to charge Durov was “in no way political,” a rare move given that French leaders often avoid discussing criminal cases to avoid any suggestion that politics is influencing judicial proceedings.
Paris prosecutors announced a laundry list of charges against Durov on Monday, including allegations that his platform was complicit in helping money launderers, drug traffickers and people who distribute child pornography. Prosecutors also accused Durov of refusing to comply with French authorities’ demand for help in intercepting potentially illegal communications.
At a news conference in Moscow after talks with his Yemeni counterpart on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed, without evidence, that “Durov was clearly taken on someone’s advice and is being threatened with terrible punishment, apparently in the hope of somehow gaining access to encryption codes.”
With approximately 950 million users, Telegram is one of the world’s most popular messaging appsIts strong end-to-end encryption, limited content moderation and functionality — it allows users to share larger files, longer videos, and higher-quality photos than many of its competitors — have made it extremely popular in both countries where freedom of speech is restricted and in war zones, including Ukraine, where it has become a vital tool for Ukrainian officials to share military updates and airstrike warnings.
“It’s very convenient and very safe,” Lavrov said.
Those same features have also made Telegram a key communications tool for the Russian military and pro-Kremlin bloggers. A popular pro-Russian war blogger with over 780,000 followers shared a post saying that France’s decision to arrest Durov meant “essentially detaining the head of communications for the Russian armed forces.”
Another, less-followed military blogger posted a photo with the words “for Pavel” on a missile believed to be destined for Ukraine that was fired on Monday. hit by the largest air raid since the beginning of the war.
The blogger, Aleksei Sukonkin, said that Telegram is “the basis of military communications,” even though Russian government officials publicly deny this claim.
“Telegram is a powerful alternative to the official and, of course, more efficient source of information; Telegram is also the main civilian messenger in Russia, practically uncontrolled by Western intelligence agencies, and a powerful source of advertising and a platform for personal blogs,” Sukonkin said. “All this is under threat.”
Telegram’s popularity among pro-Russian military bloggers and the Kremlin’s active support for Durov are somewhat surprising, given that the tech entrepreneur refused to provide Moscow with user data from his previous venture, a Facebook-like social network called Vkontakte (VK).
Durov later stepped down as VK’s CEO and sold his shares for millions of dollars. Both he and Telegram are now based in Dubai.
CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.
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