Telegram founder Pavel Durov in a video interview with podcaster Lex Fridman in Dubai shared about the poisoning attempt in the spring of 2018.
At that time, according to the entrepreneur, the messenger team was seeking investments for the blockchain platform TON and simultaneously faced blocking attempts in Russia and Iran in April 2018.
As Durov recounted, he was living alone in a rented townhouse, not specifying in which country. He had a "strange" neighbor who once left "something" at Durov's door before the entrepreneur returned home.
An hour after the entrepreneur returned, he started feeling unwell. "I felt pain all over my body. I tried to get up [from the bed] and go to the bathroom. But as I was walking there, my body started to fail. First vision and hearing, then it became difficult to breathe. All of this was accompanied by very sharp pain. Heart, stomach, all vessels. It was hard to explain, but one thing I was sure of: 'Well, that's it.' <...> I woke up on the floor the next day. <...> I couldn't stand up, extreme weakness. Blood vessels burst all over my body. This had never happened to me before. I couldn't walk for two weeks afterward," Durov recounted, noting that he had never been sick before, as he has "excellent health."
He added that he did not tell his team members anything and had not previously mentioned the incident publicly.
Durov did not explain whether he associates the poisoning attempt with anyone, nor did he report whether he underwent any examination after such symptoms.
Photo: Reuters