The Russian crypto influencer who accompanied Telegram boss Pavel Durov on several luxury trips before his arrest in Paris may have revealed his location, it has been alleged.
Yulia Vavilova, also known as Juli and believed to be 24 years old, is a self-described “cryptocurrency trainer” and video game streamer.
Like Durov, he was born in Russia and is believed to reside in Dubai, where he enjoys a jetset lifestyle and shares photographs of his travels.
More recently, her Instagram has been flooded with images of visits to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and, most recently, Azerbaijan.
Durov was in each of the countries at the same time and posted photographs and videos similar or even identical to Vavilova’s, including of a cannon, at a shooting range and apparently in the same car.
While Vavilova appeared to avoid portraying Durov in the snaps she shared with her 26,000 followers, the photos he shared from the trip alongside hers suggest they were in the same locations and reveal their journey through Central Asia.
She now appears to have disappeared since arriving in Paris with the Telegram boss, who was arrested stepping off his Embraer Legacy 600 private jet by French police as part of an investigation into criminal activity on his platform.
In Kyrgyzstan, Durov is said to have flown her into the mountains in an eight-seater helicopter, while insisting on confidentiality about her presence in the country.
A video shows her sitting next to Durov at the posh Shore House Baku restaurant on the Caspian Sea, revealed by Russian news outlet SHOT
The Dubai-based streamer is known as Yulia – or Juli – Vavilova, 24, but this is apparently not her real last name.
Pavel Durov’s Instagram is full of photos and videos of him flaunting his physique.
Vavilova’s social media posts have reportedly sparked speculation within the crypto community that she may have inadvertently led authorities to track them when they landed in Paris on Saturday night.
Images have emerged of a blonde woman, believed to be Vavilova, having breakfast with Durov and his colleagues in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, before flying to Paris.
She is seen sitting next to Durov at the posh Shore House Baku restaurant, next to the Caspian Sea, in a video revealed by Russian news outlet SHOT.
The pair are also believed to have been together at a shooting range in Azerbaijan before leaving for France, and there is a video showing them from behind.
It is unclear whether Vavilova was detained by French authorities alongside Durov, with reports suggesting the tech mogul was accompanied by “an assistant and a bodyguard” at the time of his arrest.
Baptiste Robert, a French cybersecurity expert and founder of the startup Predicta Lab, claimed on X that the assistant was actually Vavilova.
Durov and Vavilova have separately shared photos of themselves on their trip on Telegram and Instagram.
Durov and Vavilova share an identical image of a canyon, although he said it was in Kazakhstan while she labeled the location as Uzbekistan.
Vavilova shared photos from her trip with her Instagram followers, including some snaps that looked just like Durov’s.
Vavilova’s family in Russia are reportedly unable to contact her, fuelling speculation that she may have been arrested or is in hiding.
The relationship between Durov and Vavilova was apparently known in certain circles in Dubai.
The published photographs show a man’s hand and foot and he used the word “we” to refer to his travels, for example: “We got lost in a forest.”
She appears from behind in a photo just before her plane left Baku for Paris, and shows her own photos in what is firmly believed to be her plane.
He also posted an Instagram story of a private jet, captioning it ‘New destination unlocked… 3 hours from Kazakhstan’ before asking his followers to guess its whereabouts in a poll titled ‘Where are we?’
Vavilova previously revealed on Twitch, a streaming site used by gamers, that she had used cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions imposed on Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which has links to Russian security services, reported: ‘Yulia Vavilova and Pavel Durov did not particularly hide their relationship, nor the fact that after a tour of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan they planned to visit France.’
In Kyrgyzstan, Durov is said to have flown her into the mountains in an eight-seater helicopter, although he insisted on confidentiality about his presence in the country.
What is known is that Vavilova, who is highly educated, describes herself as a cryptocurrency gamer, streamer and investor and runs a cryptocurrency channel in Arabic, a language she speaks fluently.
In addition to Russian, he is also fluent in English and Spanish.
The crypto coach is from Moscow but has been living in Dubai for about two years, and Durov has recently used this place as a base after a life of itinerant activity since 2014, when he left this homeland under pressure from the Putin regime to allow its security services access to Telegram.
Vavilova’s family in Russia are unable to contact her, reports say, raising speculation about whether she has been arrested or is in hiding.
Her mother, Ekaterina, made it clear that she had not heard from her daughter since before the plane landed in Paris.
“We receive all the news from the media,” he told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
“Our phones are ringing off the hook, but only journalists are calling. Please understand our position.”
His phone is not responding, he told news outlet BAZA.
The newspaper said Yulia started using the name Vavilova when she travelled to Dubai.
Both at breakfast in Baku and on the helicopter ride to Kyrgyzstan, the couple was accompanied by successful Russian influencer Guseyn Gasanov, 30.
Vavilova has around 45,000 followers on various platforms, including Telegram, and is a successful businesswoman.
It is not entirely clear why Durov flew to Paris with Vavilova when he knew he could be arrested.
It is said that Yulia started using the name Vavilova when she went to Dubai.
The messaging app tech mogul, who lives in self-imposed exile from his native Russia, is believed to have been aware of a possible French criminal investigation.
He was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, less than a week after Vladimir Putin abruptly refused to meet him when both men were in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, when a meeting had reportedly been negotiated.
Instead, the Kremlin stepped up its efforts to block or slow down Telegram in Russia last week.
Durov founded Russia’s so-called Facebook – called VK – as well as the messenger Telegram, which is widely used for communications between the two sides in the Ukraine war and is worth £13.6bn.
He is expected to be investigated over allegations that Telegram is complicit in drug trafficking, child pornography and fraud, due to a lack of moderation controls, along with its failure to cooperate with French police.
His Telegram empire is worth around £23.5bn and he has been dubbed the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.
He recently revealed that he has fathered more than 100 children as a sperm donor.
A video from before his arrest, probably filmed by Vavilova, shows him driving freely in Kazakhstan shortly before travelling to Azerbaijan and then leaving for Paris.
The Kremlin said today: “We do not know exactly what Durov is accused of, we have not yet received any official statement.”
“We will wait for the charges to be made public, if they are made. Then we can draw some preliminary conclusions.”
Russia has demanded consular access to Durov, TASS reports, but he is a French citizen and is unlikely to be granted access.
