The frequent visits of the Telegram founder to Russia have sparked controversy, and he was recently detained in France.

According to reports, the co-founder and CEO of Telegram entered Russia multiple times between 2015 and 2021. An independent news agency cited leaked data from an intelligence agency, showing that this executive entered Russia more than 50 times during this period. This information was briefly made public in late August before being concealed again. The news agency stated that they partially verified the authenticity of this data through communication with investigators from a certain opposition organization.

Reports indicate that this executive did not intentionally conceal his itinerary. He frequently travels on commercial flights between St. Petersburg and European cities, and sometimes takes trains to Helsinki, Finland. This executive was born in Russia and co-founded a Russian social networking platform in 2006. In 2014, he resigned as CEO of the platform after refusing to provide personal information about Ukrainian protesters to a certain agency, and sold his 12% stake in the company.

He left Russia in April 2014 and only publicly returned once in the fall of 2014 to handle the sale of his data center company. Data shows that he traveled to Russia multiple times between 2015 and 2017, as well as from 2020 to 2021, with no visit records between 2018 and 2020. However, in an interview this April, the executive claimed that he would not go to places that do not align with Telegram's values, including Russia.

Recently, this executive was detained in France. French authorities accused him of failing to effectively oversee illegal activities on the Telegram platform, stating that the platform was used for drug trafficking, fraud, and organized crime. This incident has sparked discussions about the boundaries of responsibility for social media platforms.