Telegram founder Pavel Durov reveals his neighbour poisoned him in 2018 - 'Felt like this is it'

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has revealed that someone tried to poison him in 2018. However, he chose to keep the attempt a secret because he was in the process of developing a blockchain to be compatible with his messaging site, as he feared the news might hamper his work, the New York Post reported. He told podcaster Lex Fridman on Monday that he suspects a "weird neighbour" tried to kill him, a poisoning that left him unable to walk for weeks. Durov said he and his older brother had managed to raise over $1.7 billion in three months for the digital ledger. He said that when the alleged poisoning happened, Telegram was banned in Russia and Iran. Describing the incident, Durov stated that after he reached his rented townhouse on that day, he found something that had been left at the door by his “weird neighbour”.

The 40-year-old told Fridman, “One hour after, when I was already in my bed, I felt very bad. I felt pain all over my body,” he said. He tried going to the bathroom, and felt "the functions" of his body "started to switch off." The Telegram boss revealed that soon, he lost his eyesight and hearing, and started having trouble breathing. He felt "very acute pain" in his "heart, stomach, blood vessels." Durov said it felt like "this is it." Also Read: Nuclear meltdown in Ukraine? Zelenskyy warns of 'emergency situation' at Zaporizhzhia plant

Durov thought he was dead

Durov said death seemed imminent at that painful moment. “I thought, ‘Well, I had a good life. Managed to accomplish a few things.' Then I collapsed on the floor.” He did not die in that moment and woke up the next morning feeling “super weak”. He noticed that the blood vessels all over his body were “broken", and he was unable to walk for two weeks. The tech entrepreneur battled the medical emergency in secret and did not even let his team know about it.

Durov is known for developing the Telegram messaging app, which has been used extensively during the Russia-Ukraine war. President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials regularly use the app to send updates. Durov co-founded the Russian social networking site VK in 2006, and later started the messaging app Telegram in 2013. Telegram has often been accused of facilitating illegal activities, such as global drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud. In August 2024, he was arrested in France and charged in this connection.

The Post reported that according to investigative reporter Christo Grozev, Durov's symptoms matched those of nerve-agent poisoning. This happened around the same time as the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal.