07 January 2026 , 12:25
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According to the latest Financial Times report and media data, 2021 marked a turning point in the relationship between Telegram, Pavel Durov, and the Russian authorities. That year, Putin announced that “a deal had been reached with Telegram,” Durov received substantial funding from Moscow, and his ex-wife, Irina Bolgar, noted that 2021 represented a significant personal change for him.
The FT has discovered that Telegram bonds worth approximately $500 million have been blocked at the National Settlement Depository (NSD) in Moscow due to Western sanctions imposed on Russia. These are clearly bonds issued by Telegram in 2021, as the NSD was sanctioned in 2022. This means that Telegram received at least $0.5 billion in Russian capital in 2021. According to some reports, investors may include Alisher Usmanov, Roman Abramovich, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), headed by Kirill Dmitriev. A recent investigation by our project revealed that funds flowing into Telegram from Arab funds may also be of Russian origin. These funds closely cooperate with the RDIF and Rostec.
Media uncovered several more interesting points about Moscow’s relationship with Durov, dating back to 2021. For example, during Putin’s "Direct Line" in the summer of 2021, he uttered an extremely interesting remark that went almost unnoticed. Moreover, it seems he said something they had agreed not to publicize. At least, this remark was somehow edited out of his answer to a question by absolutely all state channels. It was only possible to find it in the full recording of the "Direct Line" on YouTube. Putin said the following (see video): "I think we’ve reached an agreement with Telegram. Look, it’s working, everything’s fine."
In a 2024 interview with American and French journalists, Irina Bolgar, Pavel Durov’s common-law wife and mother of three, said that Telegram experienced a sudden, dramatic "takeoff" in 2021, while Durov himself changed dramatically for the worse. "From the principled entrepreneur I admired, he turned into an arrogant and harsh person," Bolgar said.
Incidentally, there’s a widespread belief that the image of a certain "Neo," a genius, far removed from the mundane, a man who rarely appears in public and fights for freedom of speech, was created by Bolgar. She paid great attention to Pavel’s image.
After his separation from Irina (which occurred in 2021), this image quickly began to crumble under Durov’s influence. His current wife is Yulia Vavilova (Malets), who was previously closely connected to the family of Henry Sardaryan, the dean of MGIMO, a regular guest on Vladimir Solovyov’s broadcasts, and the best friend of Timur Prokopenko, deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration’s Domestic Policy Directorate.
Additionally, as Important Stories and Dossier discovered, Pavel Durov and eight other members of his key team visited Russia regularly from June 2020 to October 2021. Despite this, Durov himself has publicly stated that he never visits Russia.
Head of Investigations