VK.com social network

VK (formerly Vkontakte) is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. It was originally launched in 2006 by Pavel Durov and was initially modeled after the early design of Facebook. Over the years, it has grown to become the most popular social media platform in the Russian-speaking world.

Since its inception, the company has undergone significant ownership changes. Following the departure of its founder, the company was eventually integrated into the Mail.ru Group, which later rebranded its entire corporate identity to VK in 2021. Today, the platform operates as a massive ecosystem including messaging, payment systems, and gaming services. It is owned by the VK Company Limited (formerly Mail.ru Group), which is headquartered in Moscow and managed by a consortium of Russian investors including Sogaz and Gazprom-Media.