That investigation was conducted by russian journalists in exile. It was specifically about telegram because they have sources and it is the most relevant messenger for their readers (including people inside russia who largely assume that telegram is safe). No conspiracy here.

Why not both

Yeah, technically you can self-host it but on boy its configuration is convoluted. I decided that trying it out on their cloud would be better for my mental health.

Haha, classic

And completely abandoning it the next day