Lawyer: There is no need to fear Telegram Premium.

      After the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov*, was included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring, users had many questions: is it possible to buy Telegram Premium, pay for "stars," and send personal messages to the businessman? For clarifications, Newsler.ru turned to the well-known Kirov lawyer Yan Chebotarev.

      According to the lawyer, first and foremost, citizens should refrain from any money transfers to Durov*.

      "Funding and financing terrorism is not encouraged by the Russian Federation. If citizen Durov* is included in the list of individuals who are terrorists, noted for extremist activities, I would urge to refrain from any transfers to him," Chebotarev noted.

      It should be noted that earlier media reported that users could face up to 15 years in prison for sending a paid personal message to Pavel Durov*. The reason was the Premium feature, which allows users to message the account owner for internal Telegram currency, Telegram Stars.

      In the opinion of the interlocutor of Newsler.ru, purchasing internal Telegram currency and using it within the messenger should not be regarded as financing terrorism, as the payment for the subscription or the purchase of internal currency likely does not go directly to Pavel Durov*, but through the payment system and Telegram service.

      "I don't think that buying stars in Telegram will be classified as any offense. Transferring stars again to someone other than Mr. Durov* is unlikely to be regarded by the state as financing terrorism," said the lawyer.

      At the same time, he emphasized that in the current situation, it is better to avoid any actions that may provoke ambiguous interpretations.

      "Despite the complexity of the current situation, the Russian Federation is still a democratic and legal state... Therefore, these are excessive fears, although, of course, we must urge our citizens in such turbulent times as now to refrain from various steps that could be interpreted ambiguously," Chebotarev added.

      In response to a question about the consequences for Pavel Durov* himself, the lawyer noted that the restrictions would primarily be related to his relationships with Russia and friendly states.

      "His behavior will directly depend on the ability to visit the Russian Federation, friendly countries, and so on. These are already issues of foreign policy; I won't 'dive' into that," Chebotarev explained.

      Recall that the day before, Rosfinmonitoring included Pavel Durov* in the list of terrorists and extremists. After that, reports emerged online that any paid message to the founder of Telegram could allegedly be classified as financing terrorism. At the same time, lawyers, IT experts, and deputies noted that Telegram itself does not become a banned resource, and the purchase of Telegram Premium, stars, or gifts is not prohibited by Russian legislation.