ALBAWABA – Following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France, key Russian Defense Ministry officials and numerous businessmen were ordered to delete their official communications on Telegram, Ukrainian National News reports.

Following the 39-year-old tech billionaire’s arrest on Sunday, Moscow sent a warning to Paris demanding that he be granted his legal rights, CNBC reported. X owner Elon Musk, who describes himself as a free speech advocate, said free speech in Europe was being targeted.

Shortly after landing on a private plane late Saturday night, Pavel Durov, the wealthy inventor and owner of messaging software Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport south of Paris, a police source said. Durov is of Russian descent.

Although the official reason for Durov’s detention is not yet known, BFMTV reports that the arrest warrant raised concerns about potentially illegal activities on Telegram, such as the possible use of the app for money laundering, drug trafficking or sharing information suggesting child exploitation.

Russian politicians have expressed their disapproval of the detention. Maria Butina, who spent 15 months in a US prison for working as an unregistered Russian agent, claimed, according to Sky News, that Europe was trying to gain control of Telegram and said: “Pavel Durov is a political prisoner – a victim of a witch hunt by the West.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also commented on the arrest, saying: “Do you think this time they will turn to Paris and demand Durov’s release, or will they stick their tongue?” The Telegraph reported.