“THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH”
In 2006, having simply graduated from the College of Saint Petersburg, Durov launched VKontakte, attracting customers even whereas its founder remained a shadowy determine.
In a stunt typical of his unpredictable behaviour, Durov in 2012 showered high-denomination notes on pedestrians from VK’s headquarters on prime of a historic bookstore on Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt.
However after operating into hassle with the Kremlin for refusing handy over the non-public information of customers to the Russian safety providers (FSB), he bought out of the corporate and left Russia in 2014.
Durov resigned from VK with a typical flourish, posting an image of dolphins and the slogan “So Lengthy and Thanks for All of the Fish”, a title within the well-known Hitchhiker’s Information to the Galaxy science fiction collection.
He developed the Telegram messaging service together with his brother Nikolai whereas travelling from nation to nation and launched it in 2013.
He settled in Dubai and obtained citizenship of the Caribbean island archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis, then, in August 2021, received French nationality following a low-profile process about which Paris stays extremely discreet.
In the meantime, Telegram loved stratospheric success, presenting itself as a champion of particular person freedoms, refusing “censorship” and defending the confidentiality of its customers.
This rankled with authorities, particularly in his house nation and in 2018, a Moscow courtroom ordered the blocking of the applying. However the imposition of the measure was shambolic and three days later, protesters mockingly bombarded the FSB headquarters with paper planes, the image of Telegram.
Since then, Russia has deserted its efforts to dam Telegram and the messaging service is utilized by each the Russian authorities and the opposition, with some channels boasting a number of hundred thousand subscribers.
Telegram additionally performs a key position in Russia’s warfare in opposition to Ukraine, documented by bloggers from either side who publish their analyses and movies of the combating.
Professional-Moscow channels run by so-called “Z-bloggers” who again the warfare have proved vastly influential and are generally vital of Russian army technique.