Telegram Channel VChK-OGPU with One Million Followers Removed

The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which had amassed over one million subscribers, was removed from the platform without prior notice, Orda reports, citing Novaya Gazeta Europe.

In a statement posted on a backup channel, the channel's authors said the removal appeared to have been carried out by Telegram management and “without any warning."

They also published a December 3, 2024, ruling from the Tagansky District Court of Moscow. The document shows that Roskomnadzor had demanded the removal of VChK-OGPU along with 21 other Telegram channels.

According to the VChK-OGPU authors, “almost all the channels listed in the court decision were deleted overnight without warning. The freed-up links were quickly claimed by individuals linked to Russian authorities, indicating coordinated action.”

Following the deletion of VChK-OGPU, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, founder of "Muzhskoye Gosudarstvo," which has been designated extremist in Russia, took over the original Telegram handle, which now opens the movement's reserve channel.

In July 2024, Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel as a “foreign agent,” Novaya Gazeta Europe reports. The Ministry identified journalists Aleksandr Shvarev and Alisher Abdullaev as the channel’s authors.

Shvarev is a former Rosbalt reporter who has since received political asylum in Latvia.