Private Chat Leaks Show Moscow Officials in State of Panic Over Putin Arrest Warrant
While Moscow has publicly dismissed the Hague’s arrest order for Vladimir Putin as nothing more than a meaningless piece of paper, some government officials reportedly descended into a full-blown panic in private chats after the news broke—with some wondering if they’d become the next Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels.
That’s according to a new report from the independent outlet Verstka, which spoke with sources close to the Kremlin and several sources in parliament about the reaction behind the scenes.
The news spread “like fire” in private chats between officials in the presidential administration, one source close to the Kremlin said, adding that reactions were “strong, mostly unprintable.”