In today's #vatnik soup I'll talk about windows and heart attacks. Most of you have read about the mystery deaths of Russian businessmen, but let's look at them in more detail - some of them are quite strange.
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But before we move on to the deaths, a little history lesson in ownership and wealth in Russia: at the time of the Czars there was a ruling nobility class called the boyars. They met in a group called Duma and adviced the Czar and the Princes.
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After the Time of Troubles ("smuta"), boyars lost their possessions and properties to the Czar, and were granted a "temporary right of possession". Basically, everything they owned could be taken away from them at anytime by the Czar and/or the state.
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This same tradition was continued in a similar form in Soviet Union ("nomenklatura").60% of Russia's current leadership comes from the Soviet nomenklatura.
After the collapse of the USSR, some Russian businessmen were given a chance to do business with state-owned natural ...4/10
... resources such as gas and oil. These businessmen were called oligarchs, and these deals made many of them extremely rich. It basically gave you a free pass for corruption. As long as you didn't steal too much (like Khodorkovsky did), business could go on as usual.
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Early this year, oligarchs started dying like flies. First of them was Leonid Shulman, 60, a Director of Transport at Gazprom. His death was ruled as a suicide. In Feb, CEO and former governor Igor Nosov died at the age of 43. He reportedly suffered a stroke.
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Alexander Tyulakov, another Gazprom executive died at 61 by alleged suicide. CEO Vasily Melnikov died along with his family at age 43.
Former VP of Gazprom, Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead along with his wife and 13-year old daughter.
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Gazprom director Sergey Protosenya, 55, was found hanged in Spain. Andrey Krukovsky, 37, allegedly "fell of a cliff".
Then there was a board member of Lukoil, Alexander Subbotin, age 31, who died from a "drug-induced heart attack during a shamanic ritual".
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Many more died of heart problems or falling from high places.All of them had connections with the Kremlin. Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) has suggested that Putin has personally ordered the executions of these people after they have questioned the Czar's authority.
In today’s 350th Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American comedian and podcaster, Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith). He’s best-known for his numerous appearances on the Joe Rogan Experience and for his unhinged takes on the Russo-Ukrainian War.
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Smith has a massive megaphone - he’s a good friend of Joe Rogan, and he’s appeared on Joe’s podcast a whopping 16 times. Naturally, he’s also visited Lex Fridman’s podcast and frequently appears on Fox News’ Kennedy and The Greg Gutfeld Show.
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Dave is part of the Kremlintarian section of the Libertarian Party called Mises Caucus. They took control of the party in May 2022, and with the help of their new leader, Angela McArdle, turned it into an extension of the MAGA Republicans:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian journalist, Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin). He’s best-known for posing as a Russian dissident, while at the same time sneakily promoting the Kremlin’s narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian War.
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On paper, Leonid doesn’t look like your typical Kremlin apologist - he’s written and worked for prestigious Western outlets like the BBC, the Guardian, and he’s even written some Lonely Planet guides for the Baltic countries!
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But Ragozin’s public commentary often seems to walk a fine line: condemning the war while pushing narratives that shift blame, dilute responsibility, or quietly carry the same old imperial baggage Russia - or its opposition - has never truly forgotten.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a bank that is well-known in both Austria and Russia: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its Russian subsidiary, AO Raiffeisen. It is one of the few foreign banks that still does business in Russia.
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Raiffeisen’s Russian branch was founded in 1996 and expanded dramatically after the acquisition of Russia’s Impexbank in 2006. A year later, it was the largest bank trading in foreign capital (seventh in size) in Russia.
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In the early 2000s, Raiffeisen opened new branches in Russia, including in Saint Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. After 2018, it focused on digital expansion and by 2021 it had a digital presence in more than 300 cities.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an Estonian lawyer, social activist, politician, and useful idiot for the Kremlin, Varro Vooglaid (@varrovooglaid). He’s best-known for promoting pro-Kremlin viewpoints under the guise of “traditional family values.”
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Vooglaid has an academic background, which usually gives people plenty of credibility in the eyes of the Kremlin. Most of his academic career was spent at the University of Tartu, but he was also a researcher between 2007 and 2011 at the University of Helsinki.
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Varro is likely the most influential vatnik in Estonia. His academic credentials provide him credibility, while his religious image appeals to “traditionalists” - many of whom oddly admire Russia and its imperialistic nature.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.
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In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.
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Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.