President Vladimir Putin is worried about his officials turning to alcohol since the war in Ukraine began, it has emerged.
Russian independent media outlet Meduza said the Kremlin leader is worried about "certain people from his inner circle".
A report, citing Kremlin sources, says that the faltering war in Ukraine is a cause of concern for some senior officials and some of them have turned to the bottle to cope with the stress in the Kremlin.
A source claimed: “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."
Putin did not consult with many of his top officials before launching his bloody invasion.
Russian troops are on the back foot after a successful counteroffensive in the region of Kharkiv saw nearly all of the area recovered by Ukraine.
Some did not agree with the invasion plans and thought they were wrong, it has been reported.
Meduza explained: "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."
Nobody has yet been fired for their alcohol use, but Putin has apparently "hinted" he is concerned about the drinking behaviour and wants it to stop.
An insider source told Meduza: "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."
It is believed one public official has been told by Putin to act on alcoholism in their area of Vladimir.
Alexander Avdeyev was told he should act on the area’s "growing struggle with alcoholism" and that a "healthy lifestyle propaganda" should be in place.
Putin added: "You can’t ban anything, you can’t just raise prices excessively, [and you can’t just impose] excise taxes."
Despite the reports, a recent investigation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that on the whole, the rate of alcohol consumption in Russia declined by 43% from 2003 to 2016.
At the same time, heavy drinking went down from 75% among men to just 48%.
Despite this, the acting governor of the Kirov region Alexander Sokolov was told to "devote some attention" by Putin to the "high level of alcoholisation of the population" in his region.
