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photograph caption StalinGulag is in a cat-and-mouse online game with powerful Russian bureaucrats The secretive author of a hugely regular Russian social media channel lampooning the Kremlin has printed his id, after years of speculation.
Alexander Gorbunov, alias StalinGulag, has notched up 300,000 followers on the Telegram messaging app.
He has over a million more on Twitter, his witty and acerbic posts deploring the existing state of affairs in Russia.
Now he has decided to talk out to prevent reprisals in opposition t his family, he has told BBC Russian.
Police visited his aged mom's flat prior this week.
who is StalinGulag?In 2017 Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, known as him "essentially the most vital political columnist in Russia".
StalinGulag's contemporary aims consist of: North Korean chief Kim Jong-un's seek advice from to Russia; government plans to introduce 5G expertise; the Ukrainian presidential election and Russian proposals to ban Spanish ham and Parmesan cheese imports.
Alexander Gorbunov commonly highlights the absurdities and injustices of usual life.
graphic copyright Getty images picture caption St Petersburg food inspector: StalinGulag mocked restrictions on overseas mealsfinal month he posted a few family unit in the Siberian metropolis of Novosibirsk whose HIV-nice adopted newborn had been barred from faculty, and a ill, elderly patient in Irkutsk who reportedly killed himself in medical institution after waiting hours for a simple blood verify.
"it is inconceivable to be silent when mad things occur [in Russia]," he told the BBC.
the person behind StalinGulag has a back story that turned into miraculous lengthy before he became the Kremlin's greatest social media critic.
Born in Makhachkala within the North Caucasus in 1992, he became diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, an incurable muscle-losing situation that has made him a wheelchair-person for many of his life.
Gorbunov started his first business aged simply 13, selling dietary supplements online.
From these humble beginnings he moved on to become a a success financial dealer, specialising in derivatives and crypto-currencies.
He now live s in Moscow along with his wife, having fun with what he describes as an excellent existence with usual outings to restaurants and the theatre.
however he is eager to emphasize that someone together with his disabilities needs to be capable of make money in order to pay for the entire aid he requires to have a normal lifestyles.
'I simply desired to write down'For someone whose pithy tweets commonly comprise expletives and slang, Gorbunov in true life comes across as articulate, knowledgeable and considerate.
He arrives at the BBC office well dressed in a black polo-neck and tweed jacket. He speaks softly and with the quiet confidence of somebody who's used to being listened to.
it be clear that Gorbunov is a person who desires to make the most of however a good deal time he has left.
He is aware of that treatment will now not stop the progression of his circumstance, and for that intent refuses to take drugs which might prolong his life.
"twelve months more to are living, three hundred and sixty five days much less - it does not depend for me," says Gorbunov. "I don't need to spend the relaxation of my lifestyles in a clinical institution."
Gorbunov deploy StalinGulag as an nameless Twitter account in 2013.
on the time he was still dwelling in Makhachkala, spending most of his time at home as a result of, he says, it turned into not an easy town to get around for someone in a wheelchair.
"I simply wanted to write down," he says. "My laptop and the information superhighway meant I might follow what turned into going on within the relaxation of the world... I've always been interested in politics."
A style of S talinGulag's tweets:
photograph copyright StalinGulag/TwitterHe selected the identify, in his phrases, "as a kind of trolling" and to call out what he says are the false parallels between Stalin's era and Russia nowadays.
"The americans in energy desire us to believe that they are frightening and terrifying like the [Stalin-era] secret police," he says. "nonetheless it's no longer like that. At heart they are just commercial americans who like luxury and cash."
with the aid of 2016 he had greater than 400,000 followers and decided to department out and installation a channel on the newly-centered Telegram messaging app.
Telegram changed into install in 2013 by way of Russian IT-entrepreneur Pavel Durov, founder of VKontakte - a Russian version of fb - and who now lives in self-imposed exile overseas.
image copyright Getty photographs image caption The Russian executive tried to dam Telegram final yearTelegram allows for users to installation corporations of "channels" anonymously and ship information and content material at once to an enormous number of followers.
Its channels have turn into vastly standard in countries corresponding to Russia and Iran where freedom of speech is limited. they're used by politicians, activists and social companies communicating information and suggestions, and by using corporations targeting new customers.
studies from Russia on equivalent topics:
"Telegram channels are the handiest non-moderated political space in Russia," says political scientist Andrei Kolyadin.
Telegram's recognition and independence from the govt is a key explanation why the Russian executive tried unsuccessfully to dam the app remaining 12 months.
but attempts continue and a desire to rein in Telegram is extensively believed to be a motivating factor in the back of new legislations to adjust the internet in Russia which turned into signed into law on 1 might also and comes into drive in six months' time.
How StalinGulag lost his anonymitythrough 2018 StalinGulag turned into one of the crucial well-known Telegram channels in Russia. His darkly humorous take on life seemed to seize the zeitgeist.
there may be a huge demand now for posts announcing everything is going wrong, says Telegram professional Fyodor Skuratov.
For years StalinGulag's identification changed into a closely-guarded secret.
When the media outlet RBC posted a story in 2018 linking Alexander Gorbunov's name to the Telegram channel, StalinGulag hit lower back with a powerful denial.
however that all modified this week with the information that police in his home town had paid a talk over with to his mom's condominium.
Police told her that a person had used his cellphone to make a faux bomb danger.
The BBC contacted the police in Makhachkala to ascertain the story but no-one turned into willing to comment.
different loved ones in Moscow have also been contacted by using the police.
Media playback is unsupported to your equipment Media captionHow Russia wants to manage the cyber webThe story has led to a big storm on social media in Russia, with many people talking out in defence of StalinGulag.
The fuss eventually satisfied Gorbunov to talk out, in the hope that if he published his identification the authorities would leave his family unit on my own.
"it could be lousy if one in every of them suffered," he instructed the BBC. "now not simply from the authorities, however also from [pro-governmental] enthusiasts."
When his identify become posted within the Russian media last yr, Gorbunov says some of his buying and selling partners grew to become scared and backed out of lengthy-cherished plans to install an funding fund with him.
graphic copyright Getty photographs photograph caption Alexei Navalny - Russia's choicest-widespread anti-corruption campaigner - praises StalinGulagat that time it turned into possibly harmful, however now not illegal, to be so outspoken.
however new Russian legislations in March prohibited people from spreading "false information" and suggestions insulting to state officers.
In future this might make things much more tricky for social media personalities like StalinGulag.
to date police haven't been in contact with Gorbunov himself, and he continues to be philosophical.
"i am no longer afraid for myself," he says. "They can not take any measures to avert me, as a result of i have been living with restrictions all my existence."
"Nothing has changed," he provides. "i am going to keep on writing the way I all the time have."
which you can study the total BBC Russian interview with Gorbunov right here (in Russian).
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