Hackers have published Peskov's correspondence regarding Prigozhin and Navalny
The hacker group Black8Mirror announced the release of an archive belonging to Russian official Mikhail Babich, which allegedly contains his correspondence with Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. The messages released by the hackers discuss Putin, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Alexei Navalny. However, “The Agency” was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the entire released dataset.
Black8Mirror stated that it had gained access to the archive of Mikhail Babich—the former presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District. Since 2021, he has served as deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. Among the published materials are screenshots of what appears to be correspondence between Babich and a person signed as Dmitry Peskov.
The authenticity of this correspondence remains unconfirmed. The “agency” notes separately that it cannot independently verify whether the messages actually belong to Babich and Peskov. At the same time, journalists analyzed individual fragments of the leaked materials and found messages in them that correspond to public events of that period.
What Was Written About Tokayev
One of the excerpts concerns a speech by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on July 25. That day, during the press-open portion of a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Omsk, Tokayev unexpectedly brought up the war in Ukraine. He stated that its nature was “not entirely clear” even to Kazakhstan, and proposed freezing the conflict.
In the alleged correspondence, Babich asks “Peskov” what he thinks of Tokayev’s remarks. “Pure improvisation,” replies the account signed with Peskov’s name.
The interlocutor then suggests that someone asked Tokayev to make such a statement. Among the possible options, he mentions Ukrainians, Americans, or someone within the Russian system. According to the published screenshots, this conversation began on the day of the meeting between Putin and Tokayev and continued the following day.
“In the shitty courtyard of the Admiralty”
In another part of the alleged correspondence, the interlocutors discuss Putin’s appearance in St. Petersburg on Navy Day, July 26. That year, Putin arrived at the Main Admiralty by car. For the second year in a row, the grand naval parade in St. Petersburg was not held. In the leaked materials, “Babich” allegedly reacted emotionally to the format of the ceremony: “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...”
In response, “Peskov” allegedly wrote: “Well, at least it’s safe.” Thus, if the correspondence is genuine, the interlocutors were discussing not only public statements by the Russian leadership but also the organization of events involving Putin himself.
What the correspondence said about Prigozhin and Navalny
The longest excerpt released by the hackers is dated May 2023. “Babich” allegedly forwards a message to his interlocutor regarding the position of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, on Alexei Navalny and corruption in Russia.
It reads: “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 out. But now that Navalny is behind bars—Navalny is gone—you embezzle the money, and there are no questions.”
In the screenshot, this text is presented as a forwarded message from Nikolai Petrov—a person with the same name as the well-known Russian political analyst. “The Agency” reached out to Nikolai Petrov for comment. According to the journalists, the text itself turned out to be a post that had already been deleted from the Telegram channel “EZH,” which was called “Brief” in May 2023.
“The tragedy is that all of this is true”
After that, “Peskov” responds in the alleged correspondence: “The tragedy is that all of this is true. And we’re all talking about it one way or another… it’s just that it’s considered taboo to speak about it publicly.”
Later, the same account adds: “Why he’s doing this—I don’t know. The day before yesterday, I argued with him for an hour. It’s already pointless. He thinks things are so bad that something needs to be done...” After that, “Babich” allegedly writes that “for the first time, it seems to me that he’s right,” and asks if they shouldn’t start helping him.
In response, “Peskov” writes: “It’s hardly possible to help a suicidal person. Later, we’ll remember him as a hero and tell our children about him.” In the screenshot published by Black8Mirror, the forwarded message is dated May 24, 2023.
What Prigozhin Said at the Time
According to “The Agency,” a day earlier, a lengthy interview with Yevgeny Prigozhin had been published. In it, the head of “Wagner” said that instead of the declared “demilitarization” of Ukraine, Russia had in fact made it more militarized. He also spoke about Navalny’s investigations and their impact on Russian officials and corruption.
In other words, the content of the message allegedly forwarded by “Babich” does indeed correspond to Prigozhin’s public statements from that period. This is precisely what allowed “The Agency’s” journalists to identify the source of the quoted text. However, the coincidence with actual public statements does not in itself confirm that it was Babych and Peskov who had the published conversation.
At that time, Prigozhin was increasingly critical of the authorities
By that point, Prigozhin was already openly at odds with the Russian military leadership. Three weeks before the interview, he posted a video set against a backdrop of dozens of dead soldiers’ bodies. In the video, Prigozhin, using profanity, demanded that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov provide his units with more ammunition.
On May 9, he also spoke about Russia’s future and mentioned a “happy old man,” on whom, he said, the country’s future depends. Prigozhin then asked what would happen if this “grandpa” turned out to be a “complete asshole.” A few weeks after these events, Prigozhin’s conflict with the Russian military leadership escalated into an open confrontation. In June 2023, he organized an armed mutiny, after which he left Russia under the terms of an agreement announced by the Kremlin. “The Agency” has previously described the events of that period in detail.
What You Need to Know About the Leak
The key nuance of this story is the source of the information. The correspondence was released by the hacker group Black8Mirror, so its authenticity cannot be automatically taken as proven. “The Agency” itself emphasizes that it cannot independently verify the authenticity of the entire corpus. At the same time, journalists were able to verify certain details: in particular, they identified the source of a quote about Navalny, and the events described in the correspondence did indeed take place during the relevant period. This allows for verifying the context of individual messages, but does not prove the authenticity of the screenshots themselves.
Similar leaks have appeared before. For example, “The Agency” reported on a publication by Black8Mirror of alleged correspondence between Russian public figures; however, in such cases, it is also important to distinguish verified facts from the hackers’ own claims. Therefore, at this time, it is accurate to refer specifically to the publication of the alleged correspondence as claimed by the hackers, rather than to a confirmed fact of personal correspondence between Peskov and Babich. This was reported by the Telegram channel .”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian side is allegedly not in favor of a temporary ceasefire, but rather of a “lasting peace” with Ukraine.
