Putin, in a leaked appeal, called him a “dwarf” and a “weakling” who has “buried Russia.”

Vladimir Putin is a “dwarf” and a “wimp”. ruined Russiaaccording to a leaked phone conversation between two prominent figures in society.

The unusually candid call reportedly involves Iosif Prigozhin, a music producer, and Farkhad Akhmedov, an Azerbaijan-born energy billionaire, and has revealed deep anti-Kremlin resentment among the country’s openly pro-regime elite.

In the 35-minute conversation, Mr. Akhmedov called Putin “Satan,” a “wimp” and a “dwarf” who “don’t give a damn and doesn’t give a damn about people.”
“They f—– us over, f—– over children, their futuredo you get it?” he adds.

Mr. Prigozhin replies: “To be honest, they are criminals, criminals of the worst kind. He [Putin] the country wasted… There will be none future for us.”

Mr. Akhmedov later says, “He buried the entire Russian nation… How are we supposed to wash that away? This is a war between f —— brothers. There will be fascism This will happen… a military dictatorship. You’ll see. This is how it will end.”

The call was leaked by an obscure Ukrainian YouTube channel earlier this month but was only picked up in the past few days.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder the Wagner group — who is not related to the music producer — has hinted that the wiretaps may have tried to target him but got the wrong Prigozhin.

If the call is genuine, it suggests a deep sense of frustration and anger even among allegedly pro-Kremlin members of Russia’s elite.

Mr. Prigozhin and his wife, pop star Valeria, are longtime public supporters of Putin. They campaigned for him in the 2018 election and called on the Kremlin to go after anti-war musicians who fled the country after Ukraine was invaded.

Mr Akhmedov, 67, made his living in the Siberian gas industry in the 1990s and his fortune is estimated at around £1.36 billion. He served as a Russian Senator between 2004 and 2009, making headlines in 2021 when he had to Pay £450million to his ex-wife after a legal battle in the High Court in London.

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He never publicly spoke out against the war, and never did sanctioned by Britain and the EU after the conflict began, measures he has tried unsuccessfully to overturn.

Mr Prigozhin resides in Moscow while Mr Akhmedov currently resides between Azerbaijan and Moscow.

In another part of the appeal, Mr. Prigozhin calls Putin’s inner circle “washed-up wretches” who act like they are “gods” and complains to Mr. Akhmedov about various factions within it the security services the blame of the Minister of Defense for mistakes in Ukraine.

“They are the damnedest people ever. I can’t say anything good about her,” he says. “They’re all pulling all the way down.”

Herr Akhmedov complains what sanctions he facesincluding the seizure of his £225million superyacht MV Luna, which he said was “rotting” in Hamburg.

The EU said last April the oligarch was “close to the Kremlin,” but Mr Akhmedov said: “You write that I am a close friend of Putin. F—that! The last time I saw Putin was in 2008.”

The leaked audio has voiced a widespread sentiment in the Russian establishment that “Putin abandoned his countrysaid Tatyana Stanovaya, a Russian political scientist.

“Some were deeply pleased that someone – their own kind of people – finally said it all out loud,” she wrote Wednesday for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The leak clearly had a major impact on the mental well-being of the Russian elite.”

The Kremlin and state media, which normally clamor for revenge on “traitors,” were noticeably quiet about the call, with few pro-war bloggers calling for blood.

Mr Prigozhin initially claimed the leak was entirely fake before later suggesting parts of it were genuine.

“Everyone is aware of my political stance, which shows in all my interviews,” he told the Fontanka website on Monday. “But you know, while listening to the audio, I almost thought it was me. There are definitely some real things in there.”

However, he did not reiterate his support for Putin. Mr. Akhmedow has not yet commented.

Russian opposition figures have urged Mr Prigozhin to flee the country for his own safety, but Kremlin observers don’t expect the government will pursue him as criminal charges would only confirm the talk was genuine and public support for Putin was waning.