The founder of Telegram says he tried his assassination. “It was the only moment in my life in which I thought I would die”

The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said he survived a poison attempt in the spring of 2018, but chose not to reveal the incident so far to focus on the business priorities.

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram photo: x

In an interview, Durov said he felt severe pain throughout his body after returning home and noticed a “strange neighbor ” who left something next to his door, writes The Moscow Times.

“It was the only moment in my life in which I thought I would die,” said Durov Podcaterului Lex Fridman in the video interview published Monday. “One thing was for sure: yes, that was.”

The Russian entrepreneur said he woke up the next day on the floor, unable to get up, with broken blood vessels and unable to walk for two weeks afterwards.

“It is something I never spoke about publicly, because I didn't want to scare people,” Durov said.

At that time, Durov said Telegram was looking for funds for his Blockchain Ton project, and several countries, including Russia, were trying to ban the messaging application. Moscow gave up his efforts in 2020.

Durov did not specify where the alleged attempt was held, but it is known that in 2017 he moved to Dubai, where he lived in different rented properties.

In his interview, Durov said he had suffered intense pain, progressive loss of vision and hearing, extreme difficulty breathing and overwhelming weakness.

Durov, who has French citizenship, but also that of Arab Emirates, was arrested in Paris last year, after being accused of failing to combat the illegal content on Telegram.

The 40 -year -old billionaire was later released on bail, but was forbidden to leave France.