The founder and CEO of top Russian social-networking site VKontakte says he has left Russia.
Pavel Durov told TechCrunch, a leading technology news website, that he did not plan to return as, "unfortunately, the country is incompatible with Internet business at the moment."
He did not say where he was.
Durov earlier said he had been fired and that he had learned about his firing from media reports.
He said that VKontakte is now under the "full control" of two allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov.
VKontakte, with 100 million users, has become a platform for people to rally support for positions, often in defiance of the Kremlin.
Durov said he believed his refusal to cooperate with the authorities as they try to control content on the network is at the heart of the company's leadership struggle.
Pavel Durov told TechCrunch, a leading technology news website, that he did not plan to return as, "unfortunately, the country is incompatible with Internet business at the moment."
He did not say where he was.
Durov earlier said he had been fired and that he had learned about his firing from media reports.
He said that VKontakte is now under the "full control" of two allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov.
VKontakte, with 100 million users, has become a platform for people to rally support for positions, often in defiance of the Kremlin.
Durov said he believed his refusal to cooperate with the authorities as they try to control content on the network is at the heart of the company's leadership struggle.