Thus far, nothing has budged Putin’s resolve to retake Ukraine as part of Russian territory.
An increasingly tight noose of sanctions around Russia’s elite may be turning them against President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to dissuade any further aggression against Ukraine.
In an intense and threatening speech Wednesday, Putin said that he was on guard for any Russians who may try to influence his war effort.
He said ‘those who earn their money here, but live over there’ are seen by the Kremlin as a ‘fifth column’ that will be actively used to ‘divide our society.’
“I do not judge those with villas in Miami or the French Riviera. Or who can’t get by without oysters or foie gras or so-called ‘gender freedoms.’ The problem is they mentally exist there, and not here, with our people, with Russia,” he said.
“The West will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors … to divide our society.. to provoke civil confrontation… to strive to achieve its aim. And there is one aim, the destruction of Russia.”
Why Would Oligarchs Turn on Putin Now?
A laundry list of international bans on bank accounts, assets, luxury goods and basically anything of value held by Russian oligarchs close to Kremlin has cost some of them billions of dollars.
In just three weeks, the roughly 400 or so Russians hit by sanctions from the United States, European Union and United Kingdom have whittled down some entrants on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index by as much as two-thirds of their wealth.
Now, some of those economically minded elite may have broken off into a splinter group that is trying desperately to convince Putin to end the Ukrainian invasion.
Putin’s public warning came after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky asked the U.S. Congress for more aid.
It also gave more fuel to the possibility that some oligarchs have registered displeasure with the war, as Putin attempts to maintain support for his war and foreign policy aims.
Are Oligarchs Really Being Hit That Hard?
While there is solid evidence that sanctioned Russians have been using cryptocurrency exchanges to launder money and buy crypto using rubles — a largely devalued currency — there are apparently some oligarchs who went into the war without a backup plan.
The humiliations of the fabulously wealthy are always closely followed by the public,
But there has been a particular blend of schadenfreude associated with the very public downfall of some Russian oligarchs, with people tracking their yachts, jets and jewelry with the same enthusiasm many people reserve for sports.
The woes of some of the sanctioned have been substantial.
One billionaire, Roman Abramovich, was frantically trying to sell off his soccer franchise, London real estate and super yacht ahead of the clock — only to wind up unceremoniously sanctioned days later.
Sales of those assets have not been reported.
Another highly-connected Russian, Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, is not even on a list of sanctions, but still has his yacht stranded in Norway, where the locals refused to refuel it, just in case.
Some have even had their children thrown out of elite private schools, and those in the United Kingdom faced a new reckoning on Tuesday, when the government began a new crackdown.
During that process, London police found themselves attempting to drag protestors out of one oligarch’s unoccupied home in a posh neighborhood, with little success.
So What Could Happen?
With those sorts of lifestyle changes in the offing, it is no surprise that economically-wounded Russians with any connection to the Kremlin might lobby for an end to the discomfort.
Most oligarchs, however, would not have any sway over Putin, a new Bloomberg profile outlines. Thus far, nothing has budged Putin’s resolve to seize Ukraine as part of Russian territory.
Also, anyone with any familiarity with Putin or his background and goals would likely know immediately that interfering with his ambitions could backfire. But just in case they wonder about that, Putin’s address this week is a potent and immediate reminder.
