BY ELLIE
COOK ON
3/27/23 AT 7:43 AM EDT
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses members of the Russian National Guard in Moscow on March 27, 2023. A leaked conversation allegedly between two high-profile Russian oligarchs criticized the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A leaked
recording allegedly between two prominent Russian oligarchs has described
Russian President Vladimir Putin as "Satan" in a
wide-ranging criticism of the Kremlin.
A clip of a conversation reportedly between Russian music
producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov has circulated across
Ukrainian outlets, including RBC Ukraine and Channel 5, as well as social
media.
In the clip, Ukrainian media
has reported that Akhmedov, an Azerbaijani-born former politician, described
the Kremlin leader as a satanic figure, also criticizing former Russian
president Dmitry Medvedev.
"He is Satan. Totally
vacuous," Akhmedov allegedly said of Putin, according to Ukrainska
Pravda.
It was not possible to
independently verify the clip's veracity, nor the identities of the speakers,
but Newsweek has reached out via email to
representatives of Akhmedov's and Prigozhin's companies for comment. The
Kremlin has also been contacted for comment.
Russia's political
elites have maintained a tight grip on public dissent, and the Kremlin has
cracked down on civil and media freedoms since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022. The U.S. State
Department said in January 2023 that Russia's leaders were engaging in an
"intensifying campaign to cut off independent sources of information and
silence voices of conscience."
Exiled Russian
independent outlet Meduza reported
that the clip was initially posted on March 7. The European branch of Russian
independent outlet Novaya Gazeta also
reported the expletive-laden clip surfaced several weeks ago, including a link to the full video.
In a transcript by
independent Russian outlet MediaZona, Akhmedov
can allegedly be heard saying the Kremlin leadership "fooled
everyone, damn it."
"Just scum, just scum, damn it. And sheds
the blood of innocent people," he continued, per the readout.
Appearing to reference the Kremlin
leadership's war in Ukraine, a reply—reportedly by Prigozhin—says that
"they took away the country's future."
Putin "gave away
the country, gave it the f*** away," Prigozhin allegedly said in an excerpt posted to Twitter by the War Translated project. "And
we've got nowhere to go," the voice added.
Making rounds in the Russian and Ukrainian internet today is an alleged leaked recording of a phone call between a notable Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin (not Wagner's Prigozhin) and Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijani businessman and a former politician in Russia.
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) March 26, 2023
In this… pic.twitter.com/GY7imT62bM
In a video posted to Telegram, Prigozhin
called the recording "fake."
"Current
technologies, neural networks, they let people fabricate not only voices but a
whole conversation," he said, according to Meduza.
Speaking to Russian state media, he then said
he did "not remember this conversation exactly, and neural networks today
allow you to do miracles."
"In any case, such actions are an attack
on privacy," he told Russian outlet Fontanka.
He said he last spoke with Akhmedov in
January, adding that "we all have private conversations in which some
doubts can be expressed."
He reiterated his support for the Kremlin's
war in Ukraine, adding that "what happened to me right now can happen to
anyone."
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https://www.newsweek.com/russian-billionare-vladimir-putin-criticism-ukraine-iosif-prigozhin-farkhad-akhmedov-1790453
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