>During his trips to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan,
>Mr Durov left Russia in 2014 after losing control of his previous social media company Vkontakte (VK). He refused to comply with government demands to shut down opposition groups on the platform and would not hand over data on Ukrainian protesters to security agencies. He moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in August 2021
>Russia calls Telegram founder a 'political prisoner' after arrest in France