OREANDA-NEWS. The author of the one of the most popular Russian-language Telegram channels Stalingulag (more than 327 thousand subscribers) confirmed that his name was Alexander Gorbunov. He told it in an interview to the BBC Russian service. A link to the interview appeared on the channel with the signature: “I am Stalingulag, and I am no longer anonymous.”

Stalingulag became well-known with frank and vulgar commentary on current events in Russia since 2016. Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in 2017 referred to Stalingulag as Russia’s “leading political columnist.”

In 2018, the RBC news site traced the Stalingulag account to Gorbunov, but Stalingulag initially denied links to him.

Alexander Gorbunov is 27 years old financial trader, he is from Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan, and now is living in Moscow. The blogger uses a wheelchair because of spinal muscular atrophy.

Being asked why he decided to make a Telegram channel, Gorbunov replied that “he just wanted to write.” “There are situations when it’s simply impossible to be silent, impossible not to say that crazy things are happening”, he added.

Gorbunov reported that some days ago policemen came to his parents, who live in Makhachkala. He told that his mother phoned him and said that officers came to her house. Then Gorbunov spoke to one of the policemen. The blogger asked: “What happened? Why did you come?” “A call came from your phone about undermining of objects in Moscow”. “Was it a call from the phone number I’m talking to now?” “No”, the officer said.

The author of Stalingulag blog added that officials did not ask him any questions and “it is still unknown” whether a search in the apartment had been conducted or not.