Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Reveals Life-Threatening 2018 Poisoning Attack: "I Thought It Was Over"

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Reveals Harrowing 2018 Poisoning Experience

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has disclosed that he was the target of a suspected poisoning attack in 2018 that left him paralyzed and fearing for his life.

In a recent conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman, Durov revealed that the incident occurred after he returned to his rental property and discovered something left at his door by what he described as a "weird neighbour."

"That was the only moment in my life that I felt like I was dying," the Moscow-born entrepreneur stated during Monday's interview.

Durov detailed how his body began to shut down systematically – his physiological "functions started to switch off," breathing became nearly impossible, and his vision and hearing rapidly deteriorated. He recalled collapsing to the floor, only regaining consciousness the following day, too weak to stand.

The Telegram founder explained that for approximately two weeks following the incident, he was unable to walk as blood vessels throughout his body had ruptured. He described losing both his hearing and eyesight before experiencing severe respiratory difficulties.

"One hour later, when I was already in my bed, I felt very bad. I felt pain all over my body. 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," Durov recounted.

"Everything is accompanied by very acute pain. Heart, stomach, all blood vessels. It is difficult to explain, but one thing I was certain about was, 'yeah, this is it,'" he added.

Left immobilized, Durov believed he was facing death.

"I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see anything, it was very painful," he stated, adding, "I thought it was over... Then I collapsed on the floor."

According to The New York Post, Durov kept this alarming experience secret for years because he was developing a blockchain technology for his messaging platform and feared that revealing his health condition would create complications.

He explained that his silence was intended to prevent panic or jeopardize Telegram's progress, particularly as he and his team were fundraising for their blockchain initiative, TON.

While Durov did not explicitly accuse any particular state actor, experts have drawn parallels to previous poisonings of Russian dissidents, including the 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and the later poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

Investigative journalist Christo Grozev has noted that Durov's described symptoms align with those typical of exposure to nerve agents.