Putin administrative staff ‘start the day with a bottle of vodka’

Vladimir Putin’s administrative staff “start the day with a bottle of vodka,” and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is “often drunk as he writes his apocalyptic threats of nuclear war.”

This is reported by the exiled Russian newspaper Verstka, which has spoken to various sources close to the government.

The newspaper reports that consumption among Putin’s close associates has increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine.

“Not everyone in the presidential administration started the day earlier with a glass of vodka,” a source told the paper. “Now I know many more who do it, and for some the glass has become a bottle.”

Sources also claim that Dmitry Medvedev, currently deputy head of the country’s Security Council, is drinking to excess.

Two sources claim that Medvedev is often drunk when he writes his vitriolic posts on the Telegram messaging service about “the atrocities of the West.”

Stress appears to be a major factor in increased alcohol intake among those in the Kremlin, according to the paper’s claims, which were first reported in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

Before the war, few Kremlin employees started the day with a glass of vodka, but now many more do, and some even start the day with a bottle of vodka, said Verstka, who has spoken to sources familiar with the drinking habits of the Russian presidential administration, the Russian government and regional elites.

“Previously, at official state banquets, a maximum of one bottle of wine or vodka per person was served,” sources tell the newspaper. “Since the invasion of Ukraine began, the standard has been raised, and now 1.5 to two bottles of wine or vodka per person are served at the banquets.”

Morning alcohol consumption is also said to have increased among Kremlin employees.

Medvedev is “often drunk when he writes his vicious posts on the Telegram messaging service”

Verstka reports that several regional governors have greatly increased their alcohol consumption since the start of the war.

Despite the sanctions of the West against many Russian politicians, expensive types of alcohol are still served at banquets.

These include Louis XIII cognac – which costs more than £2,000 for a 70cl bottle – and the Château Margaux wine, which can cost more than £600 per bottle, according to Danil Novikov of FBK, the non-profit anti-corruption foundation founded in 2011 by Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin hardly drinks alcohol and would be “very negative” about it, a source close to the Kremlin told Verstka.