Russian police officers patrol the Red Square on 2 January 2024. Photo: EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
For the second time this year, Telegram has removed an anonymously-run Telegram channel known for sharing leaks from the Russian security services, claiming it was engaged in “doxxing and extortion”, sparking fears that Telegram’s management is cooperating with the Russian censors.
Writing on its reserve channel, VCHK-OGPU accused Telegram CEO Pavel Durov of being “a puppet” of the Russian security services, and said he used the “fight against doxxing” — publishing someone’s personal information without their consent — as a pretext for removing the channel at the Kremlin’s request.
VCHK-OGPU’s alleged affiliation with Russian …
Russian police officers patrol the Red Square on 2 January 2024. Photo: EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
For the second time this year, Telegram has removed an anonymously-run Telegram channel known for sharing leaks from the Russian security services, claiming it was engaged in “doxxing and extortion”, sparking fears that Telegram’s management is cooperating with the Russian censors.
Writing on its reserve channel, VCHK-OGPU accused Telegram CEO Pavel Durov of being “a puppet” of the Russian security services, and said he used the “fight against doxxing” — publishing someone’s personal information without their consent — as a pretext for removing the channel at the Kremlin’s request.
VCHK-OGPU’s alleged affiliation with Russian security agencies has seen it become an important source of scoops about the Russian criminal justice system, and its name is an abbreviation for the pre-KGB Soviet security services. However, the channel appeared to have fallen out of favour with the Kremlin in July 2024, when it was added to Russia’s “foreign agent” register for “spreading false information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian army”.
The channel, which had over 1 million members, was first removed from Telegram in April. Telegram’s press service denied at the time that the channel had been removed by its management, telling independent media outlet Agentstvo that VCHK-OGPU had been “deleted by its owner, possibly as a result of unauthorised access”, adding that its team was “investigating the situation”.
Following the initial removal, the channel’s owners launched a new channel that gained some 350,000 followers by October, which was blocked by Telegram in the early hours of Saturday.
According to VCHK-OGPU, both blockings occurred after Durov’s visits to the United Arab Emirates, where he may have met with people cooperating with Russian security services. However, this claim has not been corroborated by other sources.
“On the night of 1 November, Durov once again complied with a decision by the Russian authorities … It seems that Durov has finally given up on his reputation,” the channel wrote.
Telegram’s management has not commented on the channel’s blocking.