“To be truly free, you must be willing to risk everything for freedom,” Durov once wrote on Instagram, interspersed with pictures of himself shirtless with the skyscrapers of Dubai or the ruins of Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia in the background.
That risk now seems to have caught up with him, despite having passports from Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and St. Kitts and Nevis, and despite his net worth estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion.
The allegations against Durov include that his platform is being used to publish material about child sexual abuse and drug trafficking and that Telegram has refused to provide information or documents to investigators despite being required by law.
Durov, 39, apparently began seeking other citizenships more than a decade ago, prompted, he said, by a dispute over control of VKontakte (In Contact), known as VK, a social media website that was then overtaking Facebook in Russia.
Russian intelligence services had begun blocking sites linked to a Ukrainian protest movement that helped oust pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych. Durov apparently published Federal Security Service (FSB) documents online and demanded the release of personal data from groups linked to the protests.
After resigning on April 1, initially apparently in jest, Durov left VK for good. He reportedly obtained a residency visa for Dubai, the business hub of the United Arab Emirates, and also obtained a passport for St. Kitts and Nevis, allegedly by donating $250,000 to the Caribbean country's sugar industry.
St. Kitts and Nevis continues to be a popular tax haven for the wealthy and for people with passports that require burdensome visas to enter other countries.
Durov said in a 2017 VK post that he received a passport for St. Kitts and Nevis in the spring of 2013, calling it “a convenient thing as it allows you to travel to the EU and the UK without a visa.”
He added that he had never been to the Caribbean island and had no plans to travel there. “You can get the passport without leaving Europe.”
As of 2017, Durov lived permanently in Dubai and his Telegram office operated from Dubai Media City.
“I love it here,” he told Bloomberg at the time. “It's developing as fast as a start-up.” The news organization estimated his fortune at the time at $300 million and 2,000 Bitcoin – a cryptocurrency whose value has since risen rapidly.
At some point during this period, the United Arab Emirates granted Durov citizenship – a rarity in a country where 90 percent of the population are foreigners with no opportunity for citizenship.
The United Arab Emirates has not given an explanation for why it granted Durov citizenship, but state news agency WAM publicly recognized his citizenship on Tuesday and asked France to “provide him with all necessary consular services in an urgent matter.”
Under Emirati law, investors, doctors, specialists and intellectuals can obtain citizenship if approved by one of the country's seven rulers, a crown prince or the federal government of its autocratic state.
Durov was photographed meeting with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, in 2021. A WAM report at the time described Telegram as “having global headquarters in Dubai” and valued at over $20 billion.
The United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, has been trying to attract internet and e-commerce companies for years. Durov also became a member of an advisory board to the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala invested $75 million in Telegram that same year, as did another Abu Dhabi company.
His French citizenship remains unclear.
Durov officially became a French citizen in 2021 and his name was published in the naturalization section of the French Official Journal on August 25 of the same year. In May 2022, he officially changed the transliteration of his name in French to Paul du Rove, following a government decree.
Details of Durov's French naturalization process – a long and arduous bureaucratic ordeal for most – are hidden from public scrutiny due to French data protection rules.
Durov apparently did not meet the standard requirements for legal residence in the country for two to five years or for his marital status as a French citizen, but he may have been eligible for a rare opportunity to obtain citizenship for “particularly deserving foreigners.”
According to the French government, this applies to French-speaking foreigners who “contribute, through their meritorious commitment, to France’s global influence and the prosperity of its international economic relations”.
Durov and French President Emmanuel Macron met in 2018 and held talks similar to those the French president regularly holds with global business leaders about developing their activities in France, according to an official familiar with the meeting.
Durov later applied for French citizenship in an application to the French Foreign Ministry and not directly through Macron, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to give his name publicly when discussing private meetings with the president.
France and the United Arab Emirates maintain close military relations. The French armed forces operate a naval base in Abu Dhabi and the Emirati armed forces use Leclerc tanks and Rafale fighter jets.
Macron is also considered a confidant of Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi. The arrest sparked a fake video on the internet late Tuesday, falsely attributed to satellite news channel Al Jazeera, saying an arms deal between the countries was in jeopardy.
But like so many things about Durov, the details remain unclear. He had at times prevented interviewers from photographing his offices and other areas, thus keeping his image under control to the outside world.
