Putin’s Inner Circle Is Quietly Calling Him Names, Leak Shows

The inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin is quietly calling him names, according to a report from the defense and national security website 19FortyFive. A leaked conversation between two elites in the country allegedly revealed that Yosif Prigozhin, a music producer, and Farkhad Akhmedov, an oligarch, blamed Putin for the way he is handling the war in Ukraine.

They allegedly said that Putin has damned the country and the future generation and will “answer for it all.” They also called him “Satan.” Prigozhin claims that the conversation is fake and was stitched together by other conversations, but the Russian Secret Service says that it is real.

The conversation was likely to have been released by the country’s secret service, the FSB. The FSB is reportedly upset with how Putin has mismanaged the war and his disingenuous attempts to place the responsibility on spies. If the FSB recorded the conversation, then one analyst suggests that they are trying to discredit the president and sow discontent.

Russia is also seeking a replacement for Putin, according to Newsweek. The “special military operation” was first considered an easy win as Russian tanks plowed through Ukraine. But some are speculating that weariness from the hardship of war is settling in.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military directorate, claims that those close to Putin are acknowledging their chances in winning the war to be slim, especially in light of Russia’s terrible image in geopolitics.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on charges of war crimes which will likely restrict his travel to about 133 countries that are signatories to the nongovernmental organization.

Just days later, both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met with one another at the Kremlin, reportedly signing a joint statement acknowledging the “legitimate security concerns of all countries.”