Hubert Seipel shows the Russian leader his book “Putin: The Logic of Power.” Photo: Kremlin Pool/Alamy Stock Photo
A leading German journalist is reported to have received payments from an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.
Hubert Seipel, an award-winning film director and writer, received 600,000 euros (520,000 pounds sterling) in installments to support work on two books about Putin's rise to power, The Guardian reports.
According to documents seen by the newspaper, Mr Seipel received payments from Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, who is under sanctions of the European Union and close to the Kremlin.
The EU press release announcing sanctions on Mr Mordashov described him as part of Putin's “elite” who “benefited from their connections with Russian decision-makers.”
The revelation will cause controversy about Moscow's influence on prominent German figures.
Mr Seipel admitted that he received funds from Mr Mordashov. However, in a statement to The Guardian, he insisted he was an impartial journalist and that funding had not affected his work.
“His [Mordashov’s] support concerns exclusively book projects,” he was quoted as saying. as the Guardian says. He added: “I have always set clear legal boundaries that guaranteed my independence.”
The money appears to have been for the German-language books “Putin: Inside Views of Power” and “Putin’s Power: Why Europe Needs Russia”. published in 2015 and 2021 respectively.
Mr. Seipel's publisher, Hoffmann und Campe, said it had no knowledge of the payments. “The publisher was previously unaware of the allegations you made against Hubert Seipel regarding “sponsorship income.” If this is confirmed, we reserve the right to take further action with respect to books contracted by management in 2013 and 2016, respectively, based on the television documentary,” the company said in a statement. in The Guardian.
In a statement to The Guardian, Mr. Seipel insisted that Mordashov's support was solely for his book projects. Photo: Emin Jafarov/Kommersant Photo/Sipa USA
This happened after a Moscow policeman who killed a journalist critical of the Kremlin was pardoned after he signed up to fight in Ukraine.
Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in prison for organizing the execution of Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment in 2006.
“As a special forces soldier, he was invited to sign a contract to participate in a special military operation,” said lawyer Alexey Mikhalchik.
“When the contract expired, he was pardoned by presidential decree and is now participating in the SMO as a volunteer. soldier, having concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense.”
Khadzhikurbanov was one of five people convicted in 2014 in the murder of 48-year-old Politkovskaya. She was a renowned investigative journalist who worked for the independent magazine Novaya Gazeta, which was stripped of its media license a few months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ms Politkovskaya, seen in Russia as a staunch supporter of independent reports, wrote a sharp article. book about Putin's rise to power and frequently disputed alleged abuses by Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
In her last interview before her execution, she called Kadyrov “the Stalin of our time” and said she dreamed of the day when he would stand trial for torture and kidnapping in Chechnya.
“The sad state of the defense industry.”
Khadzhikurbanov's arrest comes amid a blow to Ukraine after the European Union admitted it would not fulfill its promise to deliver a million artillery shells by March next year.
It is safe to assume that a million rounds has not been reached there will be,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday.
EU capitals have supplied around 300,000 155mm rounds from existing stockpiles, but have failed to ramp up production to meet the target.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, criticized the “deplorable state of the defense industry” in Europe, as well “a lot of things out of sync, a lot of bureaucracy.”
Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, also said it was up to European arms manufacturers to speed up production with just 180,000 weapons. new shells have been ordered under an EU scheme.
A European security source told The Telegraph that it would be “impossible” for Ukraine to defeat Russia with its current arms supplies from the West.
< p>Meanwhile, the ministry Ukraine's Defense Forces has denied reports of plans to fire three commanders as a result of a growing dispute between the country's military and politicians.
President Volodymyr Zelensky recently denied the words of his top general Valery Zaluzhny, who claimed that the fighting with Russia had reached a “stalemate” situation” in a sobering assessment of the war.
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