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Geopolitics

"No F**king Future!" FSB Verifies Leaked Audio Of Putin Pals Bashing War

What does Russia's ruling class really think of Putin? A leaked audio recording of Russian producer Iosif Prigozhin and Russian billionaire ex-senator Farhad Akhmedov criticizing Putin has been verified by Russian intel service FSB, offering a peak into the anger toward the Kremlin's war.

Photo of Music producer Iosif Prigozhin

Music producer Iosif Prigozhin attending a party after a concert by opera stars ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, at the GUM Department Store.

Roman Anin

A leaked recording in which influential Russians close to President Vladimir Putin trash the leader and his handling of the war in Ukraine has been confirmed as authentic. This rare window into the opaque world of Russian oligarchs confirms the suspicion that the country's wealthy and powerful have grave concerns about the Kremlin

In the expletive-laden conversation, successful Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin and billionaire and former Senator Farhad Akhmedov, strong public supporters of the war, can be heard describing Russian leaders as "f**king criminals" who have "f**ked up everything."

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The recording which first appeared on social media on March 7, but it wasn't until Sunday when a high-level source in the Russian intelligence services had confirmed to independent Russian media Vazhnyye Istorii (Important Stories) that that the recording was real.

"The recording of the conversation between Prigozhin and Akhmedov is authentic. The FSB leadership held a meeting the other day and ordered their subordinates to take action,” commented a FSB source.


Wagner Group mercenary boss Yevgenzy Prigozhin, who is not directly related to the music producer although they have the same last name, called Iosef "impudent, aggressive and quick-tempered," and suggested that whoever recorded the call may have intended to target him instead.

In the recording, billionaire Akhmedov can be heard criticizing, among other things, the Russian government's choice to attack Ukraine when Russia still has plenty of its own "undeveloped land."

Here are some of the most striking quotes from their conversation, which gives a glimpse of real life in Russia, where truth is often obscured by propaganda.

Photo of the mega yacht Luna in the Hamburg shipyard harbor.

The mega yacht Luna lying in the Hamburg shipyard harbor. The detained luxury yacht ''Luna'' belonging to Russian businessman Farkhad Akhmedov, who is on a list of Russians sanctioned by the EU.

Georg Wendt/dpa via ZUMA Press​

"Absolute nonsense"

In the call, Iosef Prigozhin says prominent Russians close to Putin blame the country's defense minister for Russia's failure to gain ground in Ukraine.

Oligarch and Putin ally Igor Sechin, Sergey Chemezov, CEO of state-owned arms company Rostec Corporation and National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov blame Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for "everything," Prigozhin says.

"They call him a dumb ass — behind his back, of course. And they have the f**king task of tearing him down ... They have to blame (military defeats) on someone. They act like kings, like f**king gods," he says.

"They f**ked up everything," Akhmedov says. "The question is, what comes after them?"

If we fight, then we should fight.

"This is absolutely nonsense," he says. "The president will answer for all of this. For everything. He will be held accountable ... They f**ked us up. Our children, but also their future, their f**king destiny."

Prigozhin refers to Putin and his cabinet as "criminals" and said that "even if h pushes the f**king button, there's no future for the whole nation. That's all there is to it ... For them, people are just trash.”

Putin, Akhmedov says, "Doesn't give a f**k about anything ... about the people either. He's f**king Satan ... Lilliputians, a midget with a complex."

The billionaire offers a pessimistic assessment of Russia's chances on the battlefield, and what will come next: "If we fight, then we should fight. We can't even fight. Because there's no f**king army; they can't provide it. All stolen ... Fascism will come, there will be a military dictatorship. You'll see. That's how it will all end.”

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Society

Italy's Right-Wing Government Turns Up The Heat On 'Gastronationalism'

Rome has been strongly opposed to synthetic foods, insect-based flours and health warnings on alcohol, and aggressive lobbying by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government against nutritional labeling has prompted accusations in Brussels of "gastronationalism."

Dough is run through a press to make pasta

Creation of home made pasta

Karl De Meyer et Olivier Tosseri

ROME — On March 23, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, announced that Rome would ask UNESCO to recognize Italian cuisine as a piece of intangible cultural heritage.

On March 28, Lollobrigida, who is also Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's brother-in-law, promised that Italy would ban the production, import and marketing of food made in labs, especially artificial meat — despite the fact that there is still no official request to market it in Europe.

Days later, Italian Eurodeputy Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of fascist leader Benito Mussolini and member of the Forza Italia party, which is part of the governing coalition in Rome, caused a sensation in the European Parliament. On the sidelines of the plenary session, Sophia Loren's niece organized a wine tasting, under the slogan "In Vino Veritas," to show her strong opposition (and that of her government) to an Irish proposal to put health warnings on alcohol bottles. At the end of the press conference, around 11am, she showed her determination by drinking from the neck of a bottle of wine, to great applause.

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