The Russian crypto influencer who accompanied Telegram boss Pavel Durov on a number of luxury trips ahead of his arrest in Paris could have given his location away, it has been alleged.
Yulia Vavilova, who also goes by Juli and is thought to be aged 24, is a self-styled ‘crypto coach’ and video game streamer.
Like Durov, she is Russian-born and thought to be based in Dubai, enjoying a jetset lifestyle and sharing pictures of her travels.
Most recently, her Instagram has been awash with pictures of visits to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and most recently Azerbaijan.
Durov was in each of the countries at the same time, and posted similar or even identical pictures and videos to Vavilova, including of a canyon, at a shooting range, and seemingly in the same car.
While Vavilova appeared to avoid picturing Durov in the snaps she shared with her 26,000 followers, the pictures he shared of the trip alongside hers point to them being in the same locations – and reveal their journey across Central Asia.
Now she appears to have vanished since arriving in Paris with the Telegram boss, who was detained coming out of 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 whisked her to the mountains in an eight-seater helicopter, while insisting on confidentiality over his presence in the country
A video shows her sitting next to Durov at fashionable restaurant Shore House Baku, beside the Caspian Sea, revealed by Russian news outlet SHOT
The Dubai-based streamer is known as Yulia – or Juli – Vavilova, 24, but this is reportedly not her real family name
Pavel Durov’s Instagram is full of pictures 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 down when they landed in Paris on Saturday night.
Pictures have emerged of a blonde woman, who appears to be Vavilova, having breakfast with Durov and his colleagues in Baku – the capital of Azerbaijan – before they flew to Paris.
She is seen sitting next to Durov at fashionable restaurant Shore House Baku, beside the Caspian Sea, in 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, with video showing them from behind.
It is unclear whether Vavilova was detained by French authorities along with Durov, with reports suggesting that the tech tycoon was being accompanied by ‘an assistant and a bodyguard’ at the time of his arrest.
Baptiste Robert, a French cybersecurity expert and founder of the start-up Predicta Lab, claimed on X that the assistant was in fact Vavilova.
Durov and Vavilova have separately shared pictures of themselves on their trip on Telegram and Instagram
Durov and Vavilova share an identical picture of a canyon – though he said it was in Kazakhstan while she tagged the location as Uzbekistan
Vavilova shared pictures from her trip with her Instagram followers – including some snaps which were the same as Durov’s
Vavilova’s family in Russia cannot reach her, according to reports, fueling speculation that she may have been arrested or is lying low.
Durov and Vavilova’s relationship was reportedly known about in certain circles in Dubai.
A man’s hand and foot appear in her posted pictures and she used the word ‘we’ about her travels, for example: ‘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.
She also posted an Instagram story of a private jet, captioning it ‘New destination unlocked… 3 hours from Kazakhstan’ before asking her followers to guess her whereabouts in a poll titled ‘Where are we?’
Vavilova previously revealed on Twitch – a streaming site used by gamers – that she had used Crypto currency to avoid sanctions placed on Russia following Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine.
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, Durov is said to have whisked her to the mountains in an eight-seater helicopter, while insisting on confidentiality over his presence in the country.
What is known is that highly-educated Vavilova styles herself a gamer, streamer, and crypto investor and who runs a channel about cryptocurrency in Arabic, a language she speaks fluently.
Apart from Russian, she is also fluent in English and Spanish.
The ‘crypto coach’ is from Moscow but has lived in Dubai for around two years, and lately Durov has used this as his base after an itinerant life since 2014 when he left this homeland over pressure from the Putin regime to allow his security services access to Telegram.
Vavilova’s family in Russia cannot reach her, say reports, promoting speculation whether she has been arrested or is lying low
Her mother Ekaterina made clear she had not heard from her daughter since before the plane landed in Paris.
‘We get all the news from the media,’ she told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
‘Our phones are ringing off the hook, but only journalists are calling. Understand our position.’
Her phone is not answering, she told BAZA news outlet.
The newspaper said that Yulia started using the name Vavilova when she went to Dubai.
With the couple both at the Baku breakfast and on the Kyrgyzstan helicopter trip was highly successful Russian influencer Guseyn Gasanov, 30.
Vavilova has around 45,000 followers across several platforms, including Telegram, and is a successful businesswoman.
It remains far from clear why Durov flew to Paris with Vavilova when he knew he faced possible arrest.
Yulia is reported to have started using the name Vavilova when she went to Dubai
The messenger app tech 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 capital Baku when reportedly a meeting had been brokered.
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 heavily used for communications by both sides in the Ukrainian war, and is worth £13.6 billion.
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 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.
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, TASS reports, but he is a French citizen and this is not likely to be granted.