00:00Russia has charged Telegram co-founder Pavel Dorov with aiding terrorism,
00:05accusing him of allowing the messaging platform to be used by Ukrainian security services.
00:10Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, said it has issued an international warrant for his arrest.
00:19Moscow accused the Russian-born billionaire of failing to remove material
00:23allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out acts of sabotage,
00:27terrorism, mass murder and cyber fraud.
00:30Dorov, who holds French and UAE passports, has rejected the case as politically motivated.
00:35Russia has stepped up efforts to curb Telegram in recent years,
00:39promoting its state-backed max messaging service as an alternative.
00:44Authorities also opened an investigation into Dorov earlier this year
00:47after he criticised the government's crackdown on social media.
00:51Despite this, Telegram, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide,
00:55remains widely used by both Russians and Ukrainians.
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