Russian Oligarchs Starting to Break Ranks [Updated w/ Paul Krugman's Column]

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Monday February 28, 2022 · 11:04 AM PST

2022/02/28 · 11:04

A composite photo of Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman (right), and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. — Deripaska on the left

Cracks are appearing in Putin’s base. Vanity Fair: Russian Oligarchs Start To Speak Out as Putin Brings the Economy to the Brink of Ruin

Threats of severe economic sanctions were not enough to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine. But the enactment of those penalties by the United States and other Ukraine allies has exacted an enormous cost on the Russian economy, bringing its financial system to the brink of disaster and augmenting pressure on the country’s increasingly isolated authoritarian leader. Russia’s economy was already reeling from the swift punishments world leaders imposed following last Thursday’s attack: The country began suffering cash shortages, the ruble went into free fall, and at least two oligarchs—who have been targeted by sanctions, along with their families—called for an end to the conflict, even if they didn’t explicitly call out Putin. “Peace is very important!” Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska said in a social media post Sunday. “Negotiations need to start as soon as possible!”

Deripaska speaking out is particularly significant, since he and Putin have long supported each other.

The UK Independent puts it even stronger: Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska speak out against Moscow’s Ukraine invasion:

Top Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska openly denounced Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while businessman Anatoly Chubays posted a photo of a murdered Vladimir Putin critic without any caption. [remainder behind firewall]

Putin is up the creek without a paddle and the canoe is taking on . . . water. And other things. It’s starting to look like the main question is whether he goes quietly or noisily. Or in a gotterdammerung,

Tuesday, Mar 1, 2022 · 3:22:28 PM +00:00 · Dan K

Paul Krugman has some observations in his column this morning that reinforce this diary:

Putin isn’t the first brutal dictator to make himself an international pariah. As far as I can tell, however, he’s the first to do so while presiding over an economy deeply dependent on international commerce — and with a political elite accustomed, more or less literally, to treating Western democracies as their playground.

and

Finally, as I noted last week, Russia’s oligarchs have stashed most of their assets overseas, making them subject to freezing or seizure if democratic governments can muster the will. You might say that Russia doesn’t need those assets, which is true. But everything Putin has done in office suggests that he considers it necessary to buy oligarchs’ support, so their vulnerability is his vulnerability.

The oligarchs’ vulnerability is Putin’s vulnerability. Biden and the EU appear to have found Putin’s achilles heel. Hmmm.

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Russian Oligarchs Starting to Break Ranks [Updated w/ Paul Krugman's Column]

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