Hackers Posted Peskov's Private Correspondence Online
- 23.09.2026, 18:57
The press secretary for the Russian Federation's spokesperson discussed Putin, Tokayev, the war in Ukraine, and Prigozhin.
The Black8Mirror hacker group posted online correspondence Dmitry Peskov regarding Prigozhin and the war in Ukraine with an influential Kremlin official, Mikhail Babich, Putin’s former plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District.
“‘Agency’ reports that one of the excerpts concerns a speech by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on July 25. During a meeting with Putin in Omsk, he unexpectedly spoke about the war against Ukraine, saying that its nature was “not entirely clear”—including to Kazakhstan—and proposed “freezing” it.
In the published dialogue, “Babich” asks “Peskov” about this speech. The account, signed with Peskov’s name, replies: “Purely off the cuff.” He then speculates that “someone asked Tokayev to say that” and ponders who exactly: “The Ukrainians, the Americans, or someone from within.”
Another excerpt concerns Putin’s appearance at Navy Day in St. Petersburg on July 26. This year, there was once again no large naval parade, and Putin arrived at the Main Admiralty by car.
According to the leak, “Babich” described the ceremony as follows: “In the shitty little courtyard of the Admiralty, instead of the sea—a banner; instead of troops—a company of honor guard made up of Army soldiers... Dima, who came up with this crap? Where are they dragging him off to...”
“Peskov” allegedly replied briefly: “Well, it’s safe.”
The most revealing excerpt dates to May 2023 and concerns Yevgeny Prigozhin. In the correspondence, “Babich” forwards a text stating that Prigozhin considered Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment beneficial for corrupt officials, because Navalny’s investigations had previously prevented officials from quietly siphoning off stolen money.
At this point, Peskov becomes candid in his assessments.
“Yevgeny Prigozhin believes that the imprisonment of opposition figure Alexei Navalny has ‘corrupted’ corrupt officials: in his view, bribe-takers used to be very afraid of being mentioned in Navalny’s investigations... He was very useful because when some corporate executive embezzled money and Navalny started making a fuss about it, it was dangerous for him to move that money. But now that Navalny is behind bars—Navalny is gone, the money’s embezzled, and there are no questions,” the forwarded message reads.
In response, “Peskov” allegedly writes: “The tragedy is that all of this is true, and we’re all talking about it in one way or another… it’s just considered off-limits to speak about it publicly.”