Vavilova was travelling with Durov when he was detained (Pictures: Reuters/Shot/East2West)
A blonde Russian woman who was with Telegram billionaire Pavel Durov when he was detained in Paris has seemingly vanished.
Yulia Vavilova, 24, arrived in Paris with Durov as he was detained on the steps of his private jet upon landing in France, but has not been heard from since.
She had breakfast with Durov and his colleagues in Baku, Azerbaijan, before they flew to Paris.
A video showed Vavilova sitting next to Durov at fashionable restaurant in Baku, and she was later filmed with him elsewhere in Azerbaijan before they boarded their plane to Paris.
Vavilova’s family in Russia cannot reach her, promoting speculation she has been arrested or is lying low.
Swirling rumours even suggest that her postings on social media ahead of the trip to Paris may have given the French authorities vital geo-location information on Durov’s movements ahead of his trip to France.
Vavilova works as a gamer, cyrptocoach and more (Picture: East2West)
Though Vavilova did not mention Durov’s name or show his face, she was accompanying him on a sweep through Central Asia and their relationship was known in certain circles in Dubai where they both live.
A man’s hand and foot appear in her posted pictures and she used the word ‘we’ about her travels, writing in one post: ‘We got lost in a forest.’
She appears from a rear view on a photo just before his plane left Baku for Paris, and shows her own pictures on what is strongly believed to be his plane.
Telegram channel VChK-OGPU – with links to the Russian security services said: ‘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 he whisked her to the mountains in an eight-seater helicopter, with Durov insisting on confidentiality over his presence in the country.
Highly-educated Vavilova styles herself a gamer, streamer, and crypto investor and who runs a channel about cryptocurrency in Arabic, which she speaks fluently.
Putin was at odds with Durov, who founded VK and Telegram (Picture: AP)
Vavilova is from Mosco, but has lived in Dubai for roughly two years. Durov has been based out of Dubai for many years as well, after leaving his Russia over pressure from the Putin regime to allow his security services access to Telegram.
Vavilova’s mother Ekaterina said she had not heard from her daughter since before the plane landed in Paris.
She told Komsomolskaya Pravda: ‘We get all the news from the media. Our phones are ringing off the hook, but only journalists are calling.’
Vavilova’s phone is not answering, according to her mother and she is not thought to have been active on social media, where she has around 45,000 followers.
Theories online have suggested she could be linked to Mossad or the Russian secret services.
It remains unclear why Durov flew to Paris with Vavilova when he knew he faced possible arrest.
The Telegram tycoon – living in self-imposed exile from his native Russia – is believed to have been aware of a potential French criminal investigation.
He was held 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 Azerbaijan when reportedly a meeting had been brokered.
Vavilova was photographed with Durov while abroad (Picture: East2West)
Instead the Kremlin stepped up efforts to block or slow down Telegram in Russia last week.
Durov founded the so-called Russian Facebook – named VK – as well as Telegram messenger, which is used for communications by both sides in the Ukrainian war, and is worth £13.6 billion.
He is expected to face charges that Telegram is complicit in drug trafficking, child pornography and fraud, due to a lack of moderation controls, along with his failure to cooperate with French law enforcement.
His Telegram empire is worth some around £23.5 billion, and he has been dubbed the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.
Vavilova has not been heard from since Durov’s arrest (Picture: East2West News)
He recently revealed himself to be the father of more than 100 children as a sperm donor.
A video before his arrest, likely filmed by Vavilova, shows him driving freely in Kazakhstan shortly before travelling to Azerbaijan then leaving for Paris.
The Kremlin said today: ‘We don’t know exactly what Durov is accused of, we haven’t received any official statements yet.
‘Let’s wait until the charges are made public, if they are. After that, we’ll be able to draw some preliminary conclusions.’
Russia has demanded consular access to Durov but he is a French citizen and this is not likely to be granted.
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