Index – Foreign countries – Russia’s war in Ukraine – Index’s Tuesday news summary

Russia is ready to provide legal assistance to Pavel Durov, the co-founder of the Telegram social media service provider who is a Russian citizen, detained in France, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Of course, given that he has Russian citizenship, we are ready to provide the necessary help and support. But here the situation is complicated by the fact that he is also a French citizen

said the spokesperson.

By the way, in addition to his Russian and French citizenship, Durov is also entitled to use the passports of the United Arab Emirates and Saint Kitts and Nevis. His pretrial detention expires on Wednesday, before which he must be arraigned or released.

Peskov stressed that the charges brought against Durov are serious and require no less serious proof. He believed that otherwise it would appear to be a direct attempt to limit freedom of communication and to directly intimidate the head of a large company, which while French President Emmanuel Macron previously denied it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov voiced his opinion that Durov’s detention is actually an acknowledgment of Telegram’s reliability.

As for using this platform – very convenient, really protected. At least if there was any doubt about it, now that Durov was apparently taken on someone’s advice and threatened with dire punishment, apparently expecting to somehow gain access to encryption codes. Now the actions of the French have proven that Telegram is a really reliable and popular network

– said the head of Russian diplomacy.

Regarding the fact that the Russian side demanded consular access to Durov in a list, Lavrov stated that the request was “under consideration” and that Moscow was waiting for a response. He added that the UAE was “dealing with the same issue” and its lawyers had also requested immediate access.

According to Lavrov, the relations between Russia and France are at a low point, among other things, because of the position that Paris represents “on issues of freedom of speech, freedom of dissemination of information, and respect for the journalistic profession in general.”

At an election forum in Moscow on Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, suggested to the French authorities that after Durov, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, should be detained because of the activities on his social network. According to Medvedev, if a crime was committed at Telegram, it does not mean that it was done with the approval of the founder of the service.

The former president and prime minister pointed out that Telegram is used by many Russians, including participants in “special operations”. He recalled that Russia’s enemies noted in connection with the conflict in Ukraine: they cannot track the communications of the Russian army through the messenger. Medvedev called Telegram a platform that allows Russia to publish and deliver material to “ordinary Ukrainians,” proving that “things are a little different than they show on television” in Ukraine.

Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris on Saturday. Paris prosecutors later said it was against an unnamed person on suspicion of 12 crimes on July 8 was taken into custody as part of the initiated procedure, for questioning, reports MTI.