Putin called ‘Satan and a dwarf by his cronies in leaked recording’

Two of Vladimir Putin’s allies have allegedly been caught throwing shade at the Russian President calling him ‘Satan’ and a ‘dwarf’ in a leaked conversation.

Oligarch and former Russian senator Farkhad Akhmedov, 67, and high-profile music producer Iosif Prigozhin, 53, both supposed supporters of Putin, have been accused of insulting the Kremlin.

An audio recording of what is believed to be a 35-minute phone call between the pair was shared by Ukraine’s Channel Five as well as Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

In the clip, the pair are heard talking about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, slamming the Kremlin over their failings, and insulting his height.

Public criticism of Putin in Russia is rare, and those found guilty of insulting the Russian state, its army, or Putin himself face fines and even jail time.

Since its release, several Ukrainian and independent Russian outlets – including Meduza – have analysed the audio recording that is understood to have been made on January 24.

According to Meduza, Akhmedov is heard saying the Russian government ‘f***ed us, our children, their future, their destiny,’ in reference to Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Farkhad Akhmedov is an oligarch and ex-Russian senator who is a close ally of Putin (Picture: RBC)

Iosif Prigozhin said Putin should pull his troops out of Ukraine in the leaked recording (Picture: Iosif Prigozhin)

‘He’s Satan,’ he adds, before criticising the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who was also Russian president for four years.

Akhmedov is heard saying: ‘Both this one [Putin] and the second [Medvedev] are notorious. Lilliputians are f***ing undergrown, notorious,’ Meduza reports.

Putin is known to be sensitive about his 5ft 7inch height – with claims he suffers from ‘Napoleon complex’.

On the invasion, Prigozhin, 53, says that Russian authorities are losing to ‘Kvartal 95’ – the name of the production company founded by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2003, while he was still an actor and entertainer.

Prigozhin says that Putin should just pull his forces out of Ukraine and give up.

‘The fact that they say that they are fighting against them, back and forth, they themselves gave them a reason. He [Putin] was driven into this garbage. He got himself into it,’ Prigozhin is heard telling Akhmedov, Meduza reports.

‘To be honest, f**k it, I would stop, get the Nobel Prize, and f**king leave. I gave up the country anyway, damn it,’ he added.

The recording was said to have taken place in January

Akhmedov disputes this, telling his friend that ‘it will be a long time, unfortunately’ before Putin decides to pull his armies out.

He says: ‘He won’t go back, he can’t go forward. He will be like this.’

According to Meduza the F-word is said 157 times in the recording.

The call which first appeared on Telegram has caused a sensation in Russia despite the story being censored by the state media.

The voice sounding identical to Prigozhin says on the call that the elite ‘blame [Russian defence minister Sergei] Shoigu for everything.’

Putin has often been mocked over his height and is said to have a ‘Napoleon complex’ (Picture: Getty)

Soon after the chat was leaked Prigozhin desperately claimed that the recording had been generated by ‘neural networks,’ Meduza reports

At the weekend he posted video online responding to the claims.

He said: Fake audio recording with supposedly my voice and a conversation with an influential person. I want to say that today’s technologies, neural networks, allow you to fake not only a voice, but also a conversation.

‘You know, the Internet has turned into a big dump where there is something useful and you can devalue, discredit any person. Everyone knows my political position, it is present in all interviews and in the public field.’

He later admitted that some phrases in the conversation were genuine, saying in an interview that he ‘doesn’t exactly remember’ the conversation.

‘People in a private conversation can talk about anything. The main thing is that you speak in practice and how you behave in life and in different circumstances,’ he said, according to Meduza. He said he last spoke to Akhmedov in January.

He admitted that he was afraid the consequences that he could face in light of the audio recording, and said that while he and Akhmedov maybe have spoken some of the phrases heard in the recording, they have been altered.

Journalists contested Prigozhin’s suggestion that the clip was fake. Independent TV station chief Vadim Vostrov insisted: ‘This can neither be faked nor compiled.’

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The ‘intonations and nuances’ made clear this was a genuine recording.

‘I know that many representatives of the so-called ruling class, from [MPs] to governors, discuss similar things and in approximately the same terms.’

There was ‘so much offensive for Putin personally’ in the call, he said.

Journalist Dmitry Kolezev said the recording appeared ‘genuine’ but ‘many details that are very difficult to invent and fake’ with precise voice matches and ‘manner of communication’.

‘For the first time we have heard what some members of the Russian elite really think and feel,’ he said. ‘They hate Putin, they are fully aware of the scale of the disaster and they understand that the country has no future with Putin.

‘At the same time, they are frightened, not ready to do something themselves, and in fact they are simply waiting for the regime to collapse.’

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They are heard saying the Russian government ‘f***ed us, our children, their future, their destiny.’