Putin-watchers says the Russian tyrant isn’t an indiscriminate thief—he takes things that people really value, like a #SuperBowl ring or … 1/4 #Ukraine
The oil company of an idealistic owner, or the life of a KGB whistle-blower (pictured after his poisoning) who wanted a better, less-corrupt Russia … 2/4
Why #Ukraine? Under the theory, Putin wanted to take away their freedom. 3/4
Putin, argues biographer @mashagessen, suffers from “pleonexia, the insatiable desire to have what rightfully bellows to others.” amazon.com/Man-Without-Fa… 4/4
“belongs”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
“The people in power are corrupt thieves” - from “Navalny” He wants to end Putin’s brutal meddling in #Ukraine and #Syria Via @CNN
The second time Putin’s opponent was poisoned, Putin’s state media broadcast lies; his wife fought to see him; the state delayed his rescue to Germany; only external pressure got him out. From “Navalny,” now on @CNN
Worth tens of billions of dollars now, Putin was so poor growing up that his family and several others shared a stove in the hallway of their apartment building—and an unheated bathroom. Via biographer @mashagessen#weekendreading
In 1996, Putin’s mentor was running for re-election. Another man was named to run his campaign—but the man left after assassination attempts involving sulfuric acid (failed) & bullets (he was wounded but survived). Then Putin, behind crooked deals, got the job. Via @mashagessen
Putin’s dissertation appeared to be “16 pages of text and no fewer than 6 charts taken verbatim from an American textbook. Putin never acknowledged the plagiarism charges.” Via @mashagessen
Secret money from a little-known group is being spent to try to block dozens of federal nominations. What is this dark-money outfit called, ironically, the American Accountability Foundation—and who the hell is pushing cash to jam up U.S. democracy? newyorker.com/news/a-reporte…
"The A.A.F., which is run by conservative white men, has particularly focussed on blocking women and people of color. As of last month, more than 1/3 of the 29 candidates it had publicly attacked were people of color, and nearly 60 percent were women." - @JaneMayerNYer
"Currently, the group is waging a negative campaign against Lisa Cook, who, if confirmed, would become the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors."
“Putin personally told me of his plan to acquire the Chelsea Football Club in order to increase his influence and raise Russia’s profile, not only with the elite but with ordinary British people.” #EPL#CFC
"England itself has been a silent and handsomely compensated partner in Putin’s kleptocratic designs ... in the past two decades, Russian oligarchs have infiltrated England’s political, economic, and legal systems." Has England become compromised?
This is Lidiya Ivanenko, the Ukrainian refugee who said she just wanted a warm corner. She's holding her son, Myron, after they crossed in Poland. Russian invaders in 2014 forced her to flee to Kyiv. "I did not think this war would catch up with me.”
One of thousands of African students in the country, Blessing Oyeleke, a 25-year-old med student from Nigeria, fled the city of Ternpil. She experienced chaos and racism in the crush to escape, but called her five years in Ukraine "like a dream for me.” Via @anastasiatl
While Picasso was living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, one German officer allegedly asked him, upon seeing a photo of Guernica in his apartment, "Did you do that?" Picasso responded, "No, you did." #Ukrainepablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp
Work on Guernica "started weeks after German bombers had unleashed an early dose of Blitzkreig on the Basque town from which the work takes its name" theguardian.com/commentisfree/…