1/ Going after Putin’s inner circle and Oligarchs is an important step and one that many argue should have happened years ago. That having been said, Putin -to use Trump’s 🤷🏻♀️ description- is savvy enough to know he can’t be seen as beholden to anyone…
2/ This is why you saw that cringeworthy dressing down of one of his security chiefs Monday (which was prerecorded and could have easily been edited out). It wasn’t for a reason. He’s done the same in the past with Oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska (demanding he return a pen)….
3/ As @katyakotrikadze notes, this is intentional. For the country and world to see them shaking in fear. In addition, the staged process we’ve seen this week of Putin following the “democratic path”, of going before a Duma where his only real opposition is the Communist party.
4/ And on this, they support Putin’s efforts re Ukraine. A public display of support by a Parliament fully under Putin’s thumb is meant to show Russians that he’s acting in accordance with the “democratic process”. But it’s intended for something else.
5/ As much as Putin rules as a Czar, he realizes it can be vulnerability. So what does he do? He presents to the Russian public a united front. And behind the scenes, a message: “you own this too.”
6/ This includes Oligarchs too, who I can’t imagine Putin feel sympathy for if they are denied access to their homes in London or Miami. And as for his siloviki, as @AlexGabuev writes, they personally stand to benefit from sanctions.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
