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Photo: VDD (X)
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) has confirmed that it is aware of an attack targeting the founder of the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU — an outlet known for publishing insider leaks and sensitive information related to Russia’s security services. However, the agency claims that it currently has no evidence linking the incident to potential involvement from Moscow, the investigative outlet Important Stories (IStories) reports.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel is a prominent Russian-language outlet known for publishing insider leaks, investigations, and sensitive information related to Russia’s security services, law enforcement agencies, and criminal-political networks. The channel's name — VChK-OGPU — references the Cheka and the OGPU, early Soviet-era secret police agencies that later evolved into the KGB.
The VDD's response to IStories.
In an official response to a media inquiry, the VDD wrote:
“We confirm that the Latvian State Security Service has been informed about this incident. At the same time, the information available to the Service does not indicate that the case is connected to malicious foreign activity.”
Speculation about an assassination attempt emerged on April 7 after the sudden deletion of VChK-OGPU from Telegram. A statement issued by the channel shortly afterward claimed that an investigation into an attempt on the life of the outlet’s founder has been underway in an unnamed EU country since April 2024. The statement also alleged that the orchestrator of the plot had been identified as a Russian intelligence agency.
The identity of VChK-OGPU’s founder remains unknown. Russia’s Ministry of Justice, which previously designated the channel as a “foreign agent,” has linked it to Alexander Shvarev, a former journalist at Rosbalt, and Alisher Abdullayev. IStories noted that Shvarev has been granted political asylum in Latvia.
In the early hours of April 7, the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel — which boasts over one million followers and is known for publishing leaked information from Russian law enforcement agencies — disappeared from the platform. Its removal had previously been demanded multiple times by Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor.
A statement posted by the VChK-OGPU team on a backup Telegram channel said the main account was deleted without prior warning, and that Telegram had not responded to the editorial team’s inquiries. The post also mentioned that an investigation into the attack on its founder — which it called an attempted assassination — had been launched in April 2024. It added that in August of the same year, the founder was hospitalized with an “acute bodily reaction of unknown origin” and remained in the hospital for two months.
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel is a prominent Russian-language outlet known for publishing insider leaks, investigations, and sensitive information related to Russia’s security services, law enforcement agencies, and criminal-political networks. The channel's name — VChK-OGPU — references the Cheka and the OGPU, early Soviet-era secret police agencies that later evolved into the KGB.