A lawsuit in St. Petersburg raises questions about Telegram’s operations in Russia

On September 18, an article appeared on Medium written by a man named Anton Rozenberg, who identified himself as the former technical director at the Russian social network Vkontakte and a former director of special operations at the instant messenger Telegram. In the text, Rozenberg described his falling out with the Durov brothers, who created both Vkontakte and Telegram. He also revealed that he’s filed a lawsuit to challenge his dismissal from “Telegraph” — a company he claims is controlled by Pavel Durov.

Meanwhile, the company Telegraph is suing Rozenberg for 100 million rubles ($1.7 million), alleging that he disclosed valuable trade secrets. On September 19, both lawsuits got underway at courts in St. Petersburg. Meduza correspondent Pavel Merzlikin attended both hearings.