Top Russian officials have been turning to the bottle as Putin's war in Ukraine takes a turn, according to a new report.
Heavy drinking to relieve stress among "certain people from his inner circle" has been particularly troubling to the dictator, who is known for his minimal alcohol consumption, Russian independent media outlet Meduza claims.
And it is even claimed that the officials' collective vice has led to an embarrassing lack of discipline, with some statesmen even slurring their words in public or missing key events.
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An insider said: "Some [officials] have missed important events.
"Others have slurred their words and said things that don’t make sense in official settings.
"The general public has already started to notice."
Kremlin sources revealed that while the issue began in February, it has only worsened in recent weeks as Ukraine fights back against Russian troops.
An informer revealed: "People have been relieving their stress this way since February.
"Ministers, their subordinates, and even some deputy prime ministers, presidential administration and Security Council members, state corporation heads, and governors [have begun to drink more]."
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Meduza added: "The main reason for the stress is the domestic damage caused by Russia's war in Ukraine and the sanctions that followed — and that Putin believes the bureaucrats should have an easier time coping."
Most senior officials were not told of Putin's plan to begin a full-scale invasion of Ukraine before Russian troops hit the ground in February – and many have since been in a state of "shock and confusion".
One source revealed: "They took to the bottle [in February]. And some of them don’t want to stop."
And Kremlin sources also revealed to Meduza that there were other reasons besides military failures in Ukraine for the heavy drinking in Putin’s network.
"They have their own war, their own [personal] problems," said one.
So far nobody has been fired for their bad habit – but Putin has not ruled out that this drastic measure could be used if the problem continues, the report claimed.
Putin has continued to "hint" that he wants his top aides to change their behaviour rather than let them go altogether – and he let his anger out over the problem by springing a lecture on two regional governors, telling them to tackle alcoholism in their regions
Neither had considered this a problem – but it was understood to be indirect Putin's way of highlighting the issue.
Alexander Avdeyev, governor of the Vladimir region, was told in a lecture via an online meeting platform that he needed to act on the area’s "growing struggle with alcoholism".
"You can’t ban anything, you can’t just raise prices excessively, [and you can’t just impose] excise taxes," Putin said, instead suggesting "healthy lifestyle propaganda" aimed particularly at men in the area.
Kirov region governor Alexander Sokolov received a similar talking-to from the infamous dictator.
"It’s not the time to sweep things under the rug or try to whitewash anything — it’s time to deal with our most pressing problems," Putin told the governor.
“I urge you to devote some attention to this.”
Both governors were allegedly left "puzzled" following the telling-off, given that alcoholism was not a major problem in either of their regions.
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