View the PDF here. View the original email file here (open with an email client, such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or Mac’s Mail).

The screenplay is original, and the text cannot be found anywhere online. If this screenplay is a forgery from Ukrainian intelligence services, then it was a colossal undertaking with little ideological payoff. A few days after the script was sent to Surkov, a “Bondarenko” (possibly Oleg, a common addressee in Surkov’s inbox) forwarded on his comments on the screenplay. He praises the screenplay as a potential “ideological product,” and offered other suggestions, such as a change in the title, the names of some characters, and other details. Bykov’s production of “Volunteers” was slated for a 2016 release, but has not yet been released.

Update: Today, journalists from the BBC Russian Service contacted Bykov, who confirmed his participation in the project, though did not confirm any correspondence with Surkov. Bykov has pulled out of the production of the movie after disagreements with the film studio.

There are numerous other emails that lend to the inbox’s credibility, such as a poem sent from the aide of Russian singer Iosif Kobzon months before its publication (with a few stanzas changed from the final version), but none that clearly point to signs of forgery. DFRLab cannot confirm the authenticity of every email in this leaked cache, but there were no apparent signs that any of the available materials were fabricated.

Revealing findings

Like the first leak, the second released inbox has no bombshell information that would be expected in a forged document, such as admission of culpability in the downing of MH17, receipts of payment to families of Russian soldiers who died in combat in Ukraine, and so on. Rather, as seen in the list below, the most interesting information is subtle, and in line with our previous assumptions of Surkov’s role in managing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Fomenting unrest in Kharkiv

Russian MP (in 2015) Mikhail Markelov sent a handful of documents to Surkov via his assistant, Anna Makharinskaya. In the attached documents from emails sent on April 29, June 4, and June 18, 2015, we see how Markelov proposed the creation of nominally local initiatives that were supposedly organized by Kharkov citizens. Markelov also sends Surkov lists of planned protests in Kharkov — again, supposedly with the organization and participation of local citizens. One of the locals that the then-Russian MP suggests to lead a new organization is Igor Massalov, a Ukrainian politician who organized pro-Russian demonstrations in Kharkov in 2014.

View the documents and emails sent from Markelov to Surkov here:

— April 29, 2015 email (first attached document, second document)

— June 4, 2015 email (attached document)

— June 18, 2015 email (first attached document, second document, third document)

Future correspondence from Markelov include a list of planned events in Kharkiv, most of which were connected to the aforementioned Igor Massalov, entitled “Plan of initial measures for the election campaign in the Kharkiv Oblast,” (План мероприятий предварительного Этапа использования избирательной кампании в Харьковской области). These events were planned from “the end of June” to “the first half of August,” all before the local elections that took place in the Kharkov Oblast, among other Ukrainian regions, in October 2015. Another email from June 18 describes the organization of a flashmob protest in Kharkiv, which will “consist of 30–50 people” and where “it is necessary that people yell that Poroshenko should step down.” We encourage our readers to find possible instances of this flashmob protest taking place.

Other messages from Markelov show the clear intentions of Surkov and his proxies in Kharkiv: to foment unrest and erode the authorities of the Ukrainian government. The Russian MP and Surkov looked to create and support local pro-Russian organizations, organize events to help elect Kremli-friendly candidates, and shift public opinion towards Russia and the separatists it backs. A June 4, 2015 email from Markelov is revealing, in that he peels back the ideological-charged language that floods Russian media and shows a more pragmatic view of the situation in Kharkiv.

Warnings in the style of “Grads artillery shells are aimed at Kharkiv” and “Right Sector is planning a bloody provocation on so-and-so date” and so on are not bringing about the desired reaction. Firstly, this is because people are tired of constant tensions and stressed out —from exhaustion and apathy. Secondly, it is because of the concentration of “intimidation” is so great that it has reached the point of absurdity.

Development of separatist propaganda

A common sight in the leaked inbox is emails from one Aleksandr Kazakov, the director of the Moscow Stolypin-Struve Center for Liberal-Conservative Policy and colleague of Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, the author of the popular novel Sankya. Westerners know very little, if anything, about Prilepin, but he is widely respected in many circles, including the Western literary establishment (he was called “Russia’s Best Young Novelist” in Newsweek in 2011), the Russian political elite (both Putin and Medvedev have read his work), and in some anti-establishment groups (he is a member of the National Bolshevik Party). Surkov’s association with Prilepin has been long-known, as they grew up in the same city and share literary tastes. Surkov apparently worked with Surkov in the development of his book All that needs to be resolved… chronicles of an ongoing war, focusing on the Ukrainian Conflict. This book was published in the summer of 2016, after an exclusive story appeared about the text on Ukraina.ru, written by Surkov colleague Aleksandr Chalenko (who figures prominently in both the first and second email inboxes).

The book’s working title, as we discover from the leaked emails, was ‘Two Zakhars,” as it was written by Zakhar Prilepin and focused on Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko. Kazakov communicated often (sometimes, with desperation) with Surkov, hoping to gain access and arrange additional meetings between himself and Surkov.