Kremlin says presidential aide’s allegedly hacked e-mail data were fabricated

Russian Politics & Diplomacy October 26, 2016, 16:12

According to the presidential press secretary, Vladimir Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov doesn't use e-mail

YALTA, October 26. /TASS/. Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov does not use any e-mail and those who posted allegedly his correspondence in the Internet had to "sweat out" to fabricate the document, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"It is not him [Surkov]. Moreover, I can add that he does not use e-mail and, therefore, someone had to sweat out, fabricating this document," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Surkov "does not use" e-mail "in any way" either for office or personal matters, he added.

"The Russian presidential administration has got acquainted with the posted ‘Surkov correspondence.’ A curious document," the Kremlin spokesman said ironically.

The staff of the Russian presidential administration is guided by the law on state secret, "pursuant to which we’re obliged to follow the procedural regime very strictly while working with data and information constituting a state secret and referred to a particular state secret classification," the Kremlin spokesman said.

"This is what is tightly regulated. This is what is related to liability, including criminal responsibility, while all the rest is not regulated anyway," Peskov said in reply to the question about whether civil servants were permitted to use personal e-mail boxes.

The Kremlin spokesman told journalists on Tuesday: "I have known Surkov for more than 10 years and all this time something has been ascribed to him either by our or foreign hackers."

In Peskov’s estimate, "he [Surkov] is a very talented person and, therefore, everyone naturally tries to ascribe something to him."

"Most frequently, this has nothing to do with reality," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Some media outlets reported some days ago that Ukrainian hackers had hacked Surkov’s e-mail with correspondence on alleged plans to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.

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