Telegram denies plans to open an office in Russia

The management of the Telegram messenger has denied reports about the allegedly planned opening of an official representative office in the Russian Federation. Against the background of publications claiming that the platform team allegedly started registering a legal entity in Russia in accordance with local regulations, the company's representatives made an unequivocal statement: there are no such plans and they will not be considered.

A source in Telegram, close to the company's founder Pavel Durov, said that the information about the creation of the office does not correspond to reality. "There are no such plans and cannot be for many reasons," he stressed in response to a corresponding request.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov publicly supported this statement, commenting on his previous post with the phrase " 100%". Earlier, he indicated that he does not exclude targeted information pressure on the platform. "It is possible that we are dealing not with harmless mistakes of journalists, but with a targeted campaign to discredit Telegram," he said.

We will remind, earlier in the media space spread information about the allegedly started process of registration of Telegram in Russia. The reason for such statements could be a legal requirement requiring foreign IT companies with a large user base to have a local legal presence in the country. However, Telegram, despite its audience in Russia, continues to position itself as an independent and decentralized platform, emphasizing technological and legal autonomy from states.

Telegram remains one of the few major digital services that does not have official representative offices in most of the countries where it operates, including in countries with a high level of regulatory pressure. The company consistently declares priorities in the field of user data protection, non-interference in personal correspondence, and independence from political structures.

Telegram's stance on abandoning localization in individual countries raises a broader question: how do global technology platforms interact with government regulation in the face of increasing pressure on the digital environment. At a time when national jurisdictions are increasingly demanding that international services comply with internal rules, Telegram continues to advocate a model focused on freedom of information and decentralised governance.