MOSCOW – Russia's Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been charged with assisting terrorist activities under a criminal statute.

According to the FSB, Telegram's operators failed to remove channels, chats and bots actively used by Ukraine's special services to plan acts of sabotage and terrorism on Russian territory, commit mass killings and engage in cyber-fraud. These activities have resulted in numerous casualties, including women and children, and caused property damage worth billions of rubles.

The FSB noted that operatives of Ukraine's special services used the dating service Dayvinchik on Telegram. Posing as young women, they contacted young Russian men online. With nearly 13.7 million monthly users, the dating service was allegedly used as an operational tool.

ALSO READ: Zelensky says talks with Trump include Patriot production in Ukraine

According to the FSB, since July 2025, 46 young Russian users of Dayvinchik have been detained across 16 regions of Russia. Among other offenses, they carried out assaults against law-enforcement officers and committed arson attacks on various facilities on instructions from Ukraine's special services.

Telegram is a messaging platform that allows users to exchange messages and multimedia files in various formats. It was created in 2013 by Durov. Telegram's monthly-active-user figure exceeds one billion.

7 killed, 53 injured in Ukrainian strikes against Russia

Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian attacks against Russia killed at least seven people and injured 53 others, said regional authorities on Wednesday.

The heaviest casualties were reported in the Belgorod region, where four people were killed and 46 injured, acting regional Governor Alexander Shuvaev said, adding that the region came under 91 attacks and that air defense systems intercepted 128 drones.

In the Rostov region, a large-scale air attack on the city of Taganrog killed one person and wounded two others, Governor Yury Slyusar said.

About 72 drones and missiles were intercepted over the cities of Taganrog, Bataysk, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and four districts of the region, according to official data.

READ MORE: Kremlin: Russia sees no quick prospects for Ukraine talks

Sergey Aksyonov, head of the Crimea region, said two people were killed and five injured in an overnight Ukrainian attack.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its drone strikes overnight hit Ukrainian military storage facilities as well as fuel and lubricant depots at the port of Mykolaiv.

The strikes also targeted two dry cargo ships carrying weapons and military equipment to the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk in waters east of Odesa.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 295 Ukrainian drones overnight.