Vladimir Putin is a “dwarf” and a “wimp” who is ruining his country, according to a leaked phone conversation between two members of the Russian elite.
The unusually frank discussion purportedly between Iosif Prigozhin, a music producer, and Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijani-born energy billionaire, offers a glimpse of the anger about the Kremlin’s war.
In the 35-minute conversation, Akhmedov calls Putin “Satan”, a “wimp” and a “dwarf” who “doesn’t give a damn about anything and doesn’t give a f--- about the people”.
“They f----- us over, f----- over children, their future, do you get it?” he adds. Prigozhin replies: “They’re criminals, to be honest, criminals of the worst kind. [Putin] squandered the country away... There won’t be any future for us.”
Akhmedov later adds: “He [Putin] has buried the entire Russian nation... How are we going to wash this off? This is a war between f------ brothers.“There will be fascism there, that’s what’s going to happen... a military dictatorship. You will see — it’s going to end like this.”
The call was leaked by a Ukrainian YouTube channel earlier this month but has only made the headlines in the past few days.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, who is not related to the music producer, has suggested that the wire tappers may have been trying to target him but got the wrong Prigozhin. If the call is genuine, it suggests a deep sense of frustration and anger among those in the Russian elite who are ostensibly pro-Kremlin.
The Daily Telegraph, London