A California state court has dismissed a domestic violence lawsuit filed against Telegram founder Pavel Durov by a Ukrainian woman, according to news reports.
Margarita Glushko filed the civil action in California, alleging that Durov stalked her, blackmailed her, sexually harassed her, threatened to kill her, and attempted to poison her, Russian news channel Mash reported on Telegram.
In her legal filing, Glushko claimed the technology entrepreneur offered her a gift of a coffin shaped like a Tesla Cybertruck electric vehicle so she could sleep inside it during financial difficulties.
She requested a restraining order prohibiting Durov from coming within 90 meters of her, her home, or her place of work. Glushko also demanded 850 US dollars, equivalent to roughly 73,800 rubles, for a medical appointment and gift cards for video game consoles.
The court dismissed the lawsuit, though Glushko retains the legal option to refile her claims at a later date.
Stalking Claims and Legal Demands
Glushko has publicly referred to herself as Durov's official wife and the love of his life since 2017, even changing her surname on social media accounts to match his. She previously shared digitally manipulated collages featuring the two of them and stated her intention to bear his children.
Public records indicate that Durov is unaware of Glushko's existence and has had no direct contact with her, according to Mash.
The legal filing follows recent activity in which Durov posted and subsequently deleted several cryptic updates on the Russian social network VKontakte, including two identical messages referring to original text prior to edits.
Telegram Founder and Company Background
Pavel Durov is a technology entrepreneur born in Russia who founded Telegram in 2013 alongside his brother Nikolai. The encrypted messaging platform is headquartered in Dubai and serves hundreds of millions of users globally.
Prior to launching Telegram, Durov created VKontakte, which became Russia's largest social media network. Russian financial monitoring agency Rosfinmonitoring includes Durov on its official list of entities and individuals designated as terrorists and extremists.
The Tesla Cybertruck mentioned in the suit is an electric pickup truck produced by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla. California state courts handle civil disputes, harassment allegations, and protective order petitions within the US legal system.
