Durov then left Russia and stated that he had 'no plans to go back' and that 'the country is incompatible with Internet business at the moment'. Durov then claimed the company had been effectively taken over by Vladimir Putin's allies, suggesting his ouster was the result of both his refusal to hand over personal details of users to federal law enforcement and his refusal to hand over the personal details of people who were members of a VK group dedicated to the Euromaidan protest movement. The company claimed it was acting on his letter of resignation a month earlier that he failed to recall. On 21 April 2014, Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK. Instead, he posted the relevant orders on his own VK page, claiming that the requests were unlawful. On 16 April 2014, Durov publicly refused to hand over the personal data of Ukrainian protesters to Russia's security agencies and block Alexei Navalny's page on VK. However, Durov himself claimed it was an April Fool's Joke on 3 April 2014. On 1 April 2014, Durov submitted his resignation to the board at first, due to the fact the company confirmed he had resigned, it was believed to be related to the Russo-Ukrainian War which had started in February. Later, Tavrin resold these shares to Group. In December 2013, Durov decided to sell his 12% to Ivan Tavrin (at that time 40% of the shares belonged to Group, and 48% to the United Capital Partners). In 2012, Durov publicly posted a picture of himself extending his middle finger and calling it his official response to Group's efforts to buy VK. In 2011, he was involved in a standoff with the police in Saint Petersburg when the government demanded the removal of opposition politicians' pages after the 2011 election to the Duma Durov posted a picture of a dog with his tongue out wearing a hoodie and the police left after an hour when he did not answer the door. During the time when he and his brother Nikolai built up the VKontakte website, the company grew to a value of $3 billion. In 2006, Durov started VKontakte, later known as VK, which was initially influenced by Facebook. Since 1992, he has been head of the department of classical philology of philological faculty of Saint Petersburg State University. ĭurov's father Valery Semenovich Durov is a Doctor of Philological Sciences and the author of many academic papers. He served in the 65th Infantry Regiment, participated in the battles on the Leningrad front at Krasnoborsky, Gatchinsky and elsewhere, and was wounded three times, receiving the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree, and on the 40th Victory Day, the Order of the Great Patriotic War level I.

Pavel Durov's grandfather Semyon Petrovich Tulyakov fought in World War II. The True Story of VK and its Creator (2012). Durov's early life and career are described in detail in the book The Durov Code. In 2006, he graduated from the Philology Department of the Saint Petersburg State University, where he received a first-class degree. Pavel Durov was born in Leningrad, but spent most of his childhood in Turin, Italy, where his father was employed.

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