On the evening of June 1, a resonant incident occurred in Russia's information space. A publication containing critical theses regarding the Russian Ministry of Defense appeared in the Telegram channel belonging to State Duma deputy Andrei Gurulev. The post's author claimed that the advance of Russian troops had slowed down due to a "drone wall" and reported on an alleged decision to announce a new wave of mobilization in the autumn.
The publication also addressed logistics issues, pointing to a fuel shortage in southern Russia and the vulnerability of the "Novorossiya" highway to Ukrainian UAV attacks. The text caused a wide resonance and instantly spread across social media.
However, Andrei Gurulev promptly refuted the information, calling it a provocation and the result of his account being hacked. The deputy stated that the texts in the channel were not written by him and that the account had been stolen by "enemies." In his statement, the parliamentarian emphasized: "I do not have a Telegram channel. This is not my Telegram channel."
The official refutation was published on the deputy's page in the Russian messenger MAX — a national platform actively implemented by the VK holding. Gurulev urged citizens not to fall for provocations and not to believe fake news coming from the hacked resource.
It is worth noting that this is not the first incident involving the deputy's accounts. At the end of May, his Telegram channel was also hacked. At that time, scammers published a fake cryptocurrency fundraising campaign allegedly for purchasing UAVs for the Airborne Forces (VDV) and sent personal messages to subscribers demanding money.
At the moment, technical specialists are trying to restore access to the channel. The provocative post itself has been deleted or disavowed, however, the discussion of the incident continues.