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Panic among Moscow’s Elite As Putin Moves to Seize Tycoon’s Empire (kyivinsider.com)

submitted 1 week ago by bytesonbike@discuss.online to c/world@lemmy.world

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Vladimir Putin’s government has launched an aggressive campaign to nationalize the assets of Konstantin Strukov, one of Russia’s richest men and the owner of the country’s largest gold mining company. The move marks a sharp escalation in the Kremlin’s efforts to extract wealth from within its own elite as the financial toll of the war in Ukraine deepens.

Strukov, whose fortune is estimated at over $3.5 billion, is the founder of Yuzhuralzoloto—a gold empire built over decades with strong ties to the Kremlin. But on July 5, his private jet was grounded by Russian authorities as it prepared to leave for Turkey. His passport was reportedly seized, and the aircraft barred from departing.

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[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 36 points 1 week ago

This is a pretty good example of why I say even millinoaires and billionaires should support a functional democractic society with taxation and regulation and social safety nets. Its the old penny wise and pound foolish. Getting a sliver more and a sliver more and then you lose it all because the rule of law was thrown out long ago. It won't necessarily take that long to. At a certain point it could happen at any time. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't.

[-] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

This all depends on the people born into wealth being reasonable people.

Most are unhinged psychopaths or nepo babies with too much ego.

Which is why wealth needs to be forcefully redistributed, they won't do it voluntarily.

[-] Triasha@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Wealth is actually being redistributed quite a bit in Russia right now. The oligarchs are paying for the war and "the people" are getting much higher wages either in the military or because of labor shortages.

It's not great, what with all the death and destruction. But Russians gini coefficient is going down fast.

[-] burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

a functional democratic society would not have billionaires and hopefully millionaires neither

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[-] vivalapivo@lemmy.today 6 points 1 week ago

Rich people live under the fear of losing it all. As sharing is synonymous with losing to them, no one wants it and everyone is caught in this loop.

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

I'm becoming convinced it's an actual mental disease, or at least grossly maladaptive

[-] vivalapivo@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

It's a mental disease in the same sense as drapetomania used to be

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[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 5 points 1 week ago

Or you end being shoot on the street and the entire world celebrates it.

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[-] HailSeitan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Hamilton Nolan has made a similar argument

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[-] bytesonbike@discuss.online 34 points 1 week ago

Billionaires siding with dictators thinking they'll be protected?

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago

It's funny to me that they think they'll be special, every single time. "They won't throw me out the window for my fortune!"

[-] Saleh@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago

Well, in the case of Nazi Germany it worked spectacularly well. Many of Germanys most rich people are inheritors to industrial fortunes that got unimaginably rich with selling weapons to the Nazi army and using forced labor from the concentration camps. The families Quandt/Klatten (BMW) and Porsche/Piech (Porsche,VW, Audi...) come to mind directly. The Krupps are also still in the game although they have gambled a lot of money away over the past decades

[-] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago

Never ask Mr. Kühne where his family's fortune came from, or what their most popular cargo was in the 40s.

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

It is worth mentioning that in the case of krupps they made a lot of money selling arms in WWI and they purchased newspapers to sell the war to increase profits.

Own all the newspapers... Propaganda... Seems familiar.

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[-] Nougat@fedia.io 6 points 1 week ago

Leopards Throwing Out Of Windows Party

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Window Inspectors Against Workplace Safety party

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[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

Usually they are. Dictators typically gain and keep power by appeasing the wealthy and powerful.

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[-] dangling_cat@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago

Nah. They all play this game; they all know the risk. It’s all about gaining leverage and the correct alignment at the right time.

He probably knows it’s happening and sacrifices himself for his family and assets.

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[-] oppy1984@lemdro.id 23 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Somebody didn't watch Rules for Rulers, keep your elite happy or they'll come together and turn on you.

Fingers crossed.

[-] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

You remember those old “In Soviet Russia” backwards jokes? It’s like that, but unironically.

Putin has consolidated power to the point that he doesn’t serve at the behest of Russian billionaires; they only exist due to his whims - and they can cease to exist just as quickly.

‘Blowout’ by Rachel Maddow touches on this, it’s an interesting read/listen.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

Not if you have a loyal, competent police apparatus to round up anyone who dares to step out of line.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

And let this be a lesson to US Billionaires.

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[-] doo@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 week ago

What a great way to show the inefficiency of sanctions! /s

[-] arc99@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Soon these oligarchs won't even own a window to jump out of

[-] WiseScorpio@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Strukov is about to suffer the effects of defenestration.

[-] breecher@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago

Only four days since the last Russian oligarch defenestration.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 week ago

Strukov’s company has denied the incident entirely, stating that he was in Moscow on the day in question and calling the reports “disinformation.” But court documents confirm that a judge had already banned him and his family from leaving the country, and government agencies moved quickly to enforce it.

I will now recommend the Sad Oligarch podcast. Short series on the mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs in the last few years.

[-] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 week ago

A friend of a friend is the daughter of a Russian oligarch. It was a messy situation in which she was at risk of being drawn into the politics, even though her dad was an asshole who she would've been glad to see defenestrated. I only know the surface level info, but it sounds like a fucked up situation in many ways

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[-] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The USA elite should take notice. It'll happen to them too. Trump will ruin them if things get between himself and them.

[-] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

It’s all ready happening between him and Musk unless that’s all kayfabe

[-] bytesonbike@discuss.online 6 points 1 week ago

I'm really excited for Zuckerfuck to get Trump'd. Unlike Musk, he'll do it in the most pathetic way... Raging like a little nerd by writing private temper tantrum emails and everyone in his circle comforts him because he pays them 7-figures.

[-] jaybone@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago

Tbf, musk’s way is also pretty pathetic.

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[-] McDropout@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

It’s giving Elon-Trump vibes

[-] ddplf@szmer.info 7 points 1 week ago

It's funny because $3.5bln is nothing when trying to cover the war effort, but it'll spark a massive distrust in the Kremlin's inner circle, which is basically the only group of people that can realistically threaten Putin's very life.

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm still waiting for these fuckers to finally grow some balls.

[-] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Nah. Russia will implode itself on its own even without resistance. As if Russia never learned anything that autocratic control over economy never works, because their political culture is too corrupt to function effectively.

Francis Fukuyama, as wrong as he was about the end of history, is still correct that dictatorships eventually collapse because they surround themselves with yes men who are too detached from reality. The invasion of Ukraine is the beginning of the end for Putin. It is only a matter of time.

[-] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

the beginning of the end for Putin. It is only a matter of time.

With his age, he has all biological means to fuck around and never find out. I believe the legacy talk captures him, but the fact he himself would never meet any pushback makes many of his decisions way easier than if he was 40yo and had another 40+ to his rule. Any other minute of him fucking up foreign countries with a weaponised influence, not to say direct warfare, is a minute too much.

He could've tried to revive the country, and he got an easy start in the 00s, but he chosed to gamble it instead.

[-] mgnome@piefed.social 3 points 1 week ago

He could've tried to revive the country, and he got an easy start in the 00s, but he chosed to gamble it instead.

That's not why people become dictators. Not to mention that in autocratic environments heads of states don't really feel the consequences of their actions, and don't really mind throwing millions of their own people under the bus to bring some ephemeral former glory back.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

early on the war, and probably now he looked like he was on corticosteroids because of the moon face in many photos, hes probably hiding some health condition,.

[-] pawnfuture@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

This is the oligarchy that American technocrats want to recreate at home. Owning things is dependent on being alive. Maybe paying a couple percent extra on taxes is worth it.

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this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025

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