Russian Prosecutor General: The release of the Panama Papers was 'coordinated' by the West
Russian Prosecutor General Yuriy Chaika has referred to the release of the Panama Papers as “carefully planned and coordinated by authorities of the western states”. He said this while at the Federation Council of Russia on the 27th of April.
According to Chaika, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office had sent a request to Panamanian authorities to verify the information in the documents. “We are part of an information war and there will be no secrets,” Chaika said.
On the 3rd of April 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) published an article detailing the corruption of powerful people in several countries around the world. The Russian section of the article notes the activities of St. Petersburg cellist, Sergei Roldugin, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also discusses the “network of the offshore companies linked to Putin”. It is alleged that people close to Putin laundered more than $2 billion through Russian banks and Panamanian offshore companies.