Telegram founder Pavel Durov reveals he was target of 2018 poisoning attempt that shut down his body: ‘Thought I was dying’

Telegram founder Pavel Durov suspected that he was poisoned by a “weird neighbor” in 2018 during an assassination attempt that rendered him unable to walk for weeks.

The billionaire CEO kept the surprising revelation a secret for nearly a decade because he was in the process of developing a blockchain to be compatible with his messaging site, and feared any word of his health would cause problems.

“That was the only instant in my life that I thought I was dying,” Durov told podcaster Lex Fridman on Monday.

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Durov said he and his older brother were developing the digital ledger through the project TON, and raised over $1.7 billion in three months and Telegram had been banned in Russia and Iran when he was allegedly poisoned.

The 40-year-old Russian social media boss had arrived back at his rented townhouse, where he lived alone, when he found something his “weird neighbor” had left him at the door.

“One hour after, when I was already in my bed, I felt very bad. I felt pain all over my body,” he said. “I tried to get up and go to the bathroom. But while I was going there, I felt the functions of my body started to switch off.”

He claimed he lost his eyesight and hearing before he began having trouble breathing.

“Everything accompanied by very acute pain,” Durov said. “Heart, stomach, all blood vessels. It’s difficult to explain, but one thing I was certain about was, ‘yeah, this is it.'”

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Durov, who claimed to have perfect health, believed he was dying as he was left immobilized.

“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see anything, was very painful. I thought it was over,” he said. “I thought, ‘Well, I had a good life. Managed to accomplish a few things. Then I collapsed on the floor.”

He awoke on the ground the next day, but said he couldn’t stand up because he felt “super weak” and discovered that his blood vessels all over his body were “broken.”

“Something like this never happened to me,” he said. “I couldn’t walk for two weeks after.”

Durov remained inside his home and was silent about his medical emergency, keeping his team out of the loop because he didn’t want them to worry.

The tech entrepreneur co-founded the Russian social networking site VK in 2006 before leaving and starting up the messaging app Telegram in 2013.

Telegram has been used by both sides of the Russia-Ukraine War, with officials sending time-sensitive messages out to citizens and important information to the front lines.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky uses the messaging app to send updates to the Ukrainian citizens.

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His work has been targeted by world governments trying to impose restrictions on the content in an attack on free speech.

In August 2024, he was arrested after stepping off a plane in France and charged in the country’s investigation into Telegram’s illicit activities.

Law enforcement alleged Telegram’s lack of moderation and the tools it offers, such as cryptocurrencies, make it complicit in global drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud.

Durov was arrested on a search warrant once he stepped onto French soil.

He was charged with 12 counts in the case and placed on a judicial supervision, unable to leave France for months.

The billionaire renegotiated his release conditions in March and is eligible to leave the country for up to two weeks.

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Durov claimed his alleged poisoning made him view life with extra gratitude for his everyday schedule.

“If anything, I felt even more free after that,” he said. “After you survive something like this, you feel like you’re living on bonus time. In a way, you died a long time ago and every new day you get is a gift.”

Investigative reporter Christo Grozev believes Durov showed all the signs of a nerve-agent poisoning, that occurred around the same time as the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal.

The Russian military officer and British double agent was in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2018 with his daughter when they were poisoned by high-ranking Russian military officials.

Experts believe Soviet Union-based nerve agent A-234 was used on the father-daughter duo, who survived the attack.