Returning to the arrest of Durov, a billionaire with an estimated fortune of +/- 15 billion euros, I list some oddities, which can shed another light on the scandal. Pavel Durov had been living in the United Arab Emirates for several years, having an Emirati citizenship as well as three others: Russian, French and one in a Caribbean island. Durov chose to live in the Gulf in order to avoid the probable and announced arrest conditioned by his presence in the Euro-Atlantic space. So how exactly did such a well-assisted billionaire decide it was time to land in France, where he was already accused, when he was not facing a life-and-death matter claiming his presence on French soil? Then, who exactly could assure Durov that nothing would happen to him? And my question is somewhat rhetorical, because, of course, these assurances can only come from secret services that someone like this billionaire trusts, in our case the Russian ones.

But let’s say they were French or American and he left his protection zone because he wanted to defect. In this case, the question arises: why was he arrested anyway? Or was he only temporarily arrested to mark the breach operation?

I mention here that Pavel Durov took off the other day from Baku, Azerbaijan, where Vladimir Putin was also in the last few days, i.e. at the same time as Durov, and the Kremlin denies that there was any meeting between the two. For me, knowing very well the character and way of acting of Putin, it is very difficult to believe that he would have left the opportunity of direct communication with the Russian billionaire, given the strength and influence of Durov’s network, which the Russians themselves have used with great efficiency for the past 3 years. Did Putin himself somehow assure Durov that he could land in France, and if so, for what grand purpose? Or was Durov’s communication with Putin from Azerbaijan a failure and then the Telegram boss chose the defect option?

At this level, I rule out stupidity or carelessness. Everyone involved acted according to elaborate plans. It’s clear that something stinks, something is extremely sophisticated and strange and absconding. It remains for us, for now, to carefully follow the unfolding of events, in order to respond correctly to this charade, the deciphering of which will clarify, in any case, to what high level of sophistication the world conflict has reached today.

By Cozmin Gusa