There must have been ears ringing in the Kremlin. "Putin is Satan", "a wimp" who has "a f***ing complex related to his small size". Courteses made against the Russian president from an audio recording presented as a telephone conversation between two self-proclaimed "loyalists" of Vladimir Putin who publicly supported the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

This 35-minute discussion between influential music producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire businessman Farkhad Akhmedov, presented as authentic Saturday, March 25 by the Ukrainian television channel Channel 5, continues to make waves in the small world of the Russian elite.

Thus, on Monday, even Yevgeny Prigozhin, the famous boss of the mercenary group Wagner, wanted to distance himself from the remarks attributed to his namesake who has no family connection with him. "Iosif is reckless and aggressive," he said. "Several Russian bloggers have also commented on this recording on Telegram," said Stephen Hall, a Russia specialist at the University of Bath (southwest England).

"They screwed the country up"

Iosif Prigozhin, who initially cried falsification, finally acknowledged that there had been "a private discussion" with Farkhad Akhmedov, while specifying that part of the conversation was the result of a montage made to harm him. Russia's independent media Novaya Gazeta claims that the FSB - Russia's main intelligence agency - "authenticated the contents of the recording".

A discussion that is not limited to a list of bird names for Vladimir Putin. "They [Vladimir Putin's entourage] have screwed the country in the air," said Farkhad Akhmedov, who has settled in Baku, Azerbaijan. "They are f***ing criminals because of whom this nation has no future. They treat the people like garbage," Prigozhin said, referring to the way the war in Ukraine is unfolding.

Exchanges of rare violence that would not have been held by the first Russians to come. "Farkhad Akhmedov is a billionaire who made his fortune in the strategic gas sector and sat in the Russian parliament in the late 2000s. He therefore clearly belongs to the country's economic elite, without being a member of the inner circle of power," says Stephen Hall.

As for Iosif Prigozhin, "he is a famous record producer who actively campaigned for Vladimir Putin in the 2018 presidential election," adds the political scientist.

Part of the elite against "Putin's personal war"?

For Stephen Hall, if this recording is authentic, it "reflects quite well the mood of a part of the Russian elite who are far from impressed by the way the war is unfolding". This is not only the expression of disappointment at an offensive that does not keep its promises, but above all of the growing feeling "that this is a personal war for Vladimir Putin and an increasingly small circle of relatives," summarizes Stephen Hall.

As such, this exchange "is not a call for revolt and uprising against Vladimir Putin," said Yevgeniy Golovchenko, a specialist in Russian propaganda and political discourse at the University of Copenhagen. Farkhad Akhmedov and Iosif Prigozhin "complain above all about the economic cost to them of this war and the best way to save their fortunes," the specialist added.

Very selfish concerns that make the publication of this exchange not constitute a direct threat to the power in place, according to experts interviewed by France 24. Especially since only Telegram regulars are likely to hear about it in Russia, "since the major television networks have not seized it, so ordinary Russians will probably never know about the malaise of part of the elite," says Stephen Hall.

For this expert, the only risk for Vladimir Putin would be that "other Russian businessmen who thought they were alone in the country's economic elite to disagree with the Kremlin's policies realize that they are not as isolated as that," notes Stephen Hall.

Coup mounted by power?

On the other hand, the publication of this telephone discussion poses a threat to wealthy Russians tempted to criticize the government. "This proves that no one is safe from being listened to," Golovchenko said. Farkhad Akhmedov and Iosif Prigozhin have always cultivated a public image of irreproachable loyalty to the Kremlin, and yet if the recording exists, it is because the communications of "loyalists" of Vladimir Putin have "also been bugged by the authorities," says the expert from the University of Copenhagen.

It is perhaps "the Russian power itself that leaked this recording," extrapolates Stephen Hall. The regime would like to make it known that it has ears everywhere, including in the privacy of those who might think they are untouchable, such as Farkhad Akhmedov and Iosif Prigozhin.

In this scenario, Iosif Prigozhin would have to worry (Farkhad Akhmedov runs less risk since he lives in Azerbaijan). After proving that it is capable of hearing everything, the government should show the fate it reserves for those who are caught red-handed to criticize the president and his immediate entourage so sharply.

Perhaps that's why the record producer gave a long interview to the St. Petersburg news site Fontanka in which he said he agreed 100% with Vladimir Putin. Will this act of contrition allow him to escape the wrath of the master of the Kremlin?

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