Russia calls for arrest of Telegram boss
Russia announced on Wednesday July 29 that it had launched an international search procedure against Telegram boss Pavel Durov, accusing him of “complicity in terrorism” and affirming that his messaging is used by the Ukrainian security services for recruitment purposes.
Born in Russia and holder of French and Emirati passports, Pavel Durov, 41, has been indicted in France since 2024, with Paris accusing him of not acting against the dissemination of criminal content on Telegram. In Russia, this messaging is one of the most popular, used by ordinary citizens as well as public services, including the Kremlin, main ministries and law enforcement agencies.
The billionaire is accused in Russia of “complicity in terrorism” as part of a “criminal investigation” into the recruitment of young Russians for sabotage activities by the Ukrainian special services, the Russian security services (FSB) said in a statement.
Woman killed in Russia strike
An airstrike killed a woman in a Russian port town in the Rostov region bordering the Sea of Azov, local authorities said.
“An airstrike on Taganrog caused casualties. A woman was killed and a man injured when rocket debris fell on a residential building,” detailed the governor of the Rostov region (southwest), Yuri Slioussar, on Telegram.
“At present, the drone threat persists in the Rostov region,” he added, urging the population to seek shelter.
Zelensky says ‘the initiative is no longer in Putin’s hands’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that “the initiative is no longer in Putin’s hands” in the war in Ukraine, during an interview on Fox News.
“Putin is losing 30,000 of his soldiers a month. (…) It’s a lot of losses, but he doesn’t want to stop this war,” he said again, during a trip to Washington to meet Donald Trump and attend the funeral of Lindsey Graham, pro-Ukrainian American senator.
