Deletion of major news channel sparks fears Telegram has given in to Kremlin pressure

An anonymously-run Russian Telegram channel known for sharing leaks from the Russian security services was removed from the platform without warning on Monday, sparking fears that Telegram’s management is cooperating with the Kremlin and meeting its demands to censor certain channels.

In an editorial statement posted on its backup channel, VCHK-OGPU, which had over 1 million members, said that it believed the channel had been deleted by Telegram following a Russian court order requiring its removal for “discrediting the actions of Russian state bodies and the Russian armed forces”.

In a comment to independent media outlet Agentstvo, Telegram’s press service said the channel had been “deleted by its owner, possibly as a result of unauthorised access”, adding that its team was “investigating the situation”.

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, when it was added to Russia’s “foreign agent” register for “spreading false information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian army”.

A number of smaller channels were also deleted from Telegram in the early hours of Monday, VCHK-OGPU wrote. The same channels were mentioned in a leaked December court ruling that fined Telegram for its failure to delete the channels when the Russian government demanded it do so.

The blocking of the channel could pose a new threat to independent media outlets in Russia, many of which have relied on Telegram to reach their Russian audiences since the invasion of Ukraine and have built up a significant following on the platform.

Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, reportedly flew to Dubai last month “for several weeks” from France, where he is being investigated for failing to prevent criminal activity on the app.