Thread by @BernieSanders

Putin is not only an autocrat who initiated an illegal & immoral war against Ukraine, he's the leader of an oligarchic kleptocracy that's stolen billions from the Russian people. In Russia, ordinary people struggle while Oligarchs make out like bandits – which they are. (1/14)

Incredibly, the 500 richest people in Russia with a net worth of at least $100 million now own more wealth than the bottom 99.8% of Russia’s population - 145 million people. This is the type of inequality that exists not just in Russia, but throughout the world. (2/14)

The top 0.01% in Russia has stashed over two-thirds of its wealth offshore, while the top 1% in Russia owns as much wealth offshore as the rest of the Russian population holds onshore. Globally, the rich & powerful have stashed at least $21 trillion in offshore tax havens. (3/14)

The hidden offshore wealth of Russia’s oligarchs amounted to about 85% of Russia’s GDP in 2015. While 18 million people in Russia were living in poverty last year, Russia’s 120 billionaires owned $588 billion in wealth equal to 60% of the total household wealth in Russia. (4/14)

In 2017, it was estimated that Putin was worth $200 billion which, at the time, made him wealthier than Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos combined. No one knows how much Putin is worth today, but 22 other Russian oligarchs have a combined net worth of nearly $300 billion today. (5/14)

While people in Ukraine and Russia suffer, Putin owns a 270-foot long super yacht that he took out of Germany before the invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s yacht is equipped with a gym, a saloon, a spa, a library & a 49-foot indoor pool that can be converted into a dance floor. (6/14)

Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch worth $13 billion, owns the world's 2nd largest yacht worth $600 million with its own missile detection system. He owns the English football club Chelsea worth $2.1 billion, a $170 million mansion in the UK & another yacht in Barcelona. (7/14)

Alisher Usmanov, a Russian oligarch worth over $20 billion who owns Russia’s largest iron ore company, a telecommunications company and a newspaper in Russia, holds stakes in Airbnb, Spotify, Uber Technologies and was an early investor in Facebook. (8/14)

Dmitry Mazepin, a Russian oligarch worth over $1.3 billion & a former president of a major Russian gas company, owns a Gulfstream G650 private jet that recently flew over the New York area. Mazepin recently attended a meeting with Putin and a dozen other oligarchs. (9/14)

Alexey Mordashov, the third richest person in Russia worth $23 billion, owns a Bombardier Global 6000 private jet and a $500 million yacht that has been sailing in the Seychelles region for more than 10 days. (10/14)

According to Bloomberg, “At least four [Russian-owned] super yachts remained anchored in Barcelona. Two were last parked along the Florida coast, in Miami and Palm Beach.” (11/14)

6 Russian oligarchs and their families who hold $66.3 billion in wealth own 13 properties in New York worth $588 million including a 75-foot wide townhouse and an $88 million penthouse. (12/14) nypost.com/2022/02/27/her…

None of these oligarchs should be allowed to park their yachts, fly their jets, sleep in their mansions, or stash their cash offshore during the war in Ukraine. But much more must be done to stop the movement to oligarchy not just in Russia, but all over the world. (13/14)

Now, more than ever, those of us who believe in democracy and justice must work to bring working people all over the world together. Instead of hate & divisiveness, let us take on the greed & ideology of the top 1% and fight for economic, social & environmental justice. (14/14)