Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claims that Ukrainian intelligence services used the popular Telegram dating chatbot “Daivinchik/Leo” to recruit Russian citizens, including minors, into sabotage and terrorist activities through deception and psychological manipulation.
The agency also announced that it has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity under Russian law and declared him internationally wanted.
FSB said the allegations stem from a joint investigation with Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the Investigative Committee. According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence officers allegedly posed as young women on the Daivinchik/Leo dating chatbot, a matchmaking service popular among younger Telegram users, to establish online relationships with Russian citizens. Victims were allegedly persuaded to share the locations of proposed dates, typically shopping centers or other public venues, and to purchase movie or concert tickets or gifts via phishing links.
The agency claims the targets were later contacted through other messaging platforms by individuals posing as Russian law enforcement officers or representatives of Rosfinmonitoring. The imposters allegedly told victims that their payments had been transferred to the Ukrainian military and that the shared location data had been used to plan missile or drone attacks. Under threats of criminal prosecution, the victims were allegedly coerced into carrying out arson attacks, assaults on law enforcement officers, and other acts disguised as participation in supposed counterterrorism operations.
The FSB said that since July 2025, authorities have arrested 46 Russian citizens aged 12 to 22 across multiple regions. According to the agency, the suspects attacked law enforcement officers, set fire to transportation, energy, telecommunications, and financial infrastructure, or acted as couriers delivering money obtained through fraud to cryptocurrency exchange points for transfer to accounts allegedly controlled by Ukrainian intelligence. Criminal cases have been opened under multiple provisions of Russia's Criminal Code, including terrorism, sabotage, destruction of property, hooliganism, and attempted murder of law enforcement officers.
The FSB also noted that Daivinchik/Leo was added to Russia's register of blocked websites in December 2025. According to the agency, Telegram has failed to remove prohibited content, along with channels, chat groups, and bots that Russian authorities claim are used by Ukrainian intelligence, terrorist organizations, extremist groups, and cybercriminals to coordinate attacks and fraud operations inside Russia.
In the same announcement, the FSB said it has charged Pavel Durov under Article 205.1, Part 1.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which concerns facilitating terrorist activity, and declared him internationally wanted. The agency did not provide evidence supporting the allegation or indicate whether an international arrest request has been accepted by any foreign jurisdiction.
Pavel Durov has not publicly commented on the allegations. CyberInsider has contacted Telegram for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This article will be updated if the company or Durov issues a statement.
The announcement follows months of escalating pressure on Telegram in Russia. Earlier this year, authorities launched a criminal investigation into the platform, while Roskomnadzor introduced nationwide throttling measures that Durov said were intended to push users toward the state-backed MAX messaging app.
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