Music producer Iosif Prigozhin said the recording of his alleged conversation with former senator and billionaire Farhad Akhmedov, which was being circulated on social media, was fake. Participants in this conversation in an obscene form criticize the Russian authorities.
Conversation between “Prigozhin” and “Akhmedov”
An audio recording of a phone conversation allegedly attended by Prigozhin and Akhmedov surfaced on social media in mid-March. The authors of the publications claim that this conversation was “intercepted”. Ukrainian Channel 5 suggested the conversation could have taken place a month and a half to two and a half months ago. It lasts a little over half an hour, and a female voice is also heard in the background, attributed to the singer Valeria, the wife of Prigozhin.
Participants in the conversation throughout its duration, using obscene language, criticize Russian authorities, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and also speak extremely negatively about his decision to launch a military operation in Ukraine. In particular, they say the authorities have “pissed off” the country and the children’s future, and that senior security officials have united against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The interlocutor, whose voice in the publications is attributed to ex-senator Akhmedov, says that the head of state will be asked “for everything”, in response to which the second participant in the conversation agrees and qualifies the leaders of the land of criminals.
Sergei Porter / Vedomosti / TASS
Participants in the conversation also criticize the capabilities of the Russian military and its prospects in Ukraine. In particular, from the mouth of a person whose voice is attributed to Akhmedov, there are words that “everything has been stolen” in the country, and the armed forces cannot provide it.
The same person advises his interlocutor to be more active in business and earn money, to rest more and to “communicate less” with Russian officials. At the same time, he himself complains about the problems that have arisen due to Western sanctions – in particular, the “blocked boat”, which “rots there”, and the lack of a credit card, because of which “there is money – you can’t spend it”.
How did Prigozhin react?
Iosif Prigozhin in his telegram channel writing that the audio recording is “fake”, and “today’s technologies, neural networks, allow you to simulate not only a voice, but also a conversation”.
“Everyone knows my political position, it is present in all my interviews and in the public arena. But you know, when I listened to the audio recording, I almost thought it was me,” the producer shared.
In a conversation with Rise, the producer did not exclude that the creators of the “fake phone” could confuse him with the founder of PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to him, the purpose of such publications is “to confuse the president’s supporters with each other” and minimize their number.
“They just want to devalue him in the eyes of the leaders of the country, too, to dispel the spirit that there are still enemies here. No need to search for a black cat in a dark room. We are certainly not enemies. We will never be friends with anyone against ours, ”assured the producer.
Prigozhin also confirmed that he knew Akhmedov. “We haven’t communicated for a while. When I ended up in intensive care, he saved my life, paid for the hospital, since then we started to have some kind of contact,” he said. -he declares.
Farkhad Akhmedov, 67, is a Russian entrepreneur, oil and gas magnate, former owner of the gas company Northgas and chairman of the board of Aznar, an Azerbaijani juice producer. Forbes evaluate his fortune is 1.7 billion dollars (49th place in the ranking of Russian billionaires-2022).
In 2004-2007, Akhmedov served as a senator from the Krasnodar Territory. He was the first owner of the Gorki Gorod complex built for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Obtained to the EU sanctions list in April 2022. Shortly after, the yacht Luna was arrested in Hamburg, which, according to data local media, belonged to Akhmedov.
In a comment from the Daily Storm, Prigogine Express the assumption that similar “fake” conversations may soon appear on social networks, the participation of which will be attributed to famous Russian artists. “Why not? Of course, yes, because the main objective is to divide society, to push fronts, to find as many opponents as possible,” the producer said.
At the beginning of March, Iosif Prigozhin became a guest on the RTVI program “You Hold On!”, In which he urged not to “beat with sticks” and not to take away awards and titles from stars who have left Russia after the outbreak of hostilities. in Ukraine. In particular, the producer told how he and his colleagues “asked” the singer Valery Meladze, who spoke out against the military operation, but he “crossed everything out” with his behavior. When asked if the artist’s statements should not be considered an expression of his civic position, Prigogine criticized such a position. “It’s not a position, it’s stupidity. Under these conditions, there must be a position, there can be no other position,” he said.
