"In August 2014, SORM-2 usage was extended to monitoring of social networks, chats and forums, requiring their operators to install SORM probes in their networks."
Telegram didn’t comply that rule and Russia tried to block Telegram that time without success
Telegram is not hosted in russia, but you are right, trusting telegram, is trusting ceo Pavel Durov and hist good intentions, much better than any big tech, but not even close to a proper e2ee
My apologies, you're completely right, Telegram is not hosted in Russia. I don't know where I got that idea in my head from...