No, Durav made a post about this recently but it was on his Telegram channel. Basically they don't have servers in Russia and it has been banned there in the past.
Durov's servers may be anywhere but his arse is in Russia. That's more than enough leverage for KGB to silent him and/or Telegram at will. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he still lives in Russia all this time. Food for thought.
Russia has already "silenced" Telegram in the past. I think he lives in Russia because he is Russian and enjoys it there.
Your attitude towards Russia is humorous, given that you're far more likely to be silenced in America these days. Except it's worse in America because you won't just be silenced. You will be completely cut off from life financially, communications-wise, commercially.
Ironically, the only people pressuring Durav to do things like ban Telegram channels is Apple and Google.