Economist - intercepted email from Russia

[A Can of Man]

I have always respected the Economist above all other Press services and companies so I hope it is accurate.

http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/europeview/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11999551

It is an email between an unknown person and Vladimir Putin. Now apparently it COULD be a prank. Apparently written in Russian and then translated.
My question is: why would anyone send anything like this over email?

 

[mmarsh]

The email is addressed to Oleg Stutnik -which means "Joker" in Russian.

 

[A Can of Man]

Yeah I know it says so at the bottom.
A code name? A silly prank? Probably the latter. So why does the Economist post this??

 

[Del Boy]

Simply reading this, I cannot believe in it as real.