The developer of the Telegram alternative, known as Telega, continued to receive a salary from VK until May.

According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, which studied information from leaked tax service documents, Fanis Sadykov — one of the developers of the increasingly popular Russian application Telega, positioned as an alternative to Telegram — was an employee of the company VK from May to July 2025. According to these records, Sadykov held the position of consultant in the integration department of VK's service ecosystem department from early May until the end of June 2025. In May, he was paid a salary exceeding 300 thousand rubles by Mail.ru, which is part of the VK holding; information about subsequent payments is currently missing from the leak.