On July 23, Irina Bolgar contacted Forbes to correct the number of children attributed to Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, in their billionaire ranking. Previously listed with two children, she revealed that Durov is actually the father of five. Bolgar provided birth certificates and notarized translations as proof of paternity for the three youngest children. Forbes confirmed the authenticity of these documents with the translator and is awaiting further verification from a notary.

Irina Bolgar, a lawyer by profession, was born in Leningrad and claims to have met Durov in 2012. They began living together six months later, and their daughter Leia was born in 2013, followed by sons Daniel in 2016 and David in 2017. Due to legal constraints in the UAE, Bolgar and her children moved from St. Petersburg to Latvia in 2019 and then to Switzerland in 2020, where paternity documents were translated into French.

While Bolgar and Durov no longer live together, they reportedly maintain frequent contact and family travels. Despite Durov's claim of not visiting Russia since 2014, Bolgar recalls his presence in St. Petersburg around David's birth in 2017. Forbes has not received a response from Durov regarding these claims.

Previously, Durov was known to have two children with Darya Bondarenko, but neither Durov nor Bondarenko has publicly commented on their relationship. Bolgar remained private about her family until June 2024, when she began sharing their story on Instagram, prompted by her children's feelings of being overlooked in public discussions.

Legal experts speculate that Bolgar's decision to go public may be financially motivated, suggesting potential requests for increased support or guarantees for her children. Bolgar claims this publicity was primarily for her children's benefit, as they were aware of their public omission.

Durov, meanwhile, stated he has 100 biological children globally through an anonymous donor program, a topic he discussed with Bolgar, who saw no risks to their family. However, children from this program cannot inherit from Durov.

Currently, Durov has five recognized children eligible for inheritance. In Forbes' 2024 heirs ranking, his children are listed sixth, each potentially receiving $7.75 billion, half of Durov's fortune. With the latest

Recent developments suggest that the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) in Turkey might consider actions against Telegram similar to those taken against Instagram. According to the pro-government newspaper Sabah, Telegram could face a ban if it continues to ignore warnings regarding illegal content on its platform.

In Turkey, Instagram was previously blocked for eight days due to content related to "catalog crimes," which include serious offenses such as child exploitation and drug trafficking. Following this, Sabah reported that Telegram had received over 1,000 warnings from BTK concerning similar content but failed to respond.

The report alleges that Telegram has become a "haven for crime," facilitating the trade of illegal content such as drugs, prostitution, gambling, and pedophilia through channels on its platform. Due to the absence of a local representative in Turkey, BTK has directed these concerns to Telegram's headquarters in the UK without receiving any response.

Sabah indicated that if Telegram does not take immediate action to address these issues, the possibility of its ban in Turkey could become a reality. Telegram has about 8 million active users in Turkey, making it the 10th most used messaging app in the country, while it has 1 billion users worldwide.