PARIS, August 26. /TASS/. Pavel Durov, a co-founder of the Telegram messenger, has been detained in France as part of an investigation launched on July 8, 2024, the Paris prosecutor's office has said in a statement.

"This measure comes in the context of a judicial investigation opened the 8th of July 2024, following a preliminary inquiry initiated by the Fight against Cybercrime section of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office," the statement reads.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the investigative magistrates in charge of the preliminary investigation have requested a co-referral from the Center for the Fight against Cybercrime and the Anti-Fraud National Office.

The prosecutor's office said Durov was detained and placed in custody at 8:00 p.m. Paris time (6:00 p.m. GMT) on August 24 at Le Bourget airport.