How "good Russians" protect "wallets" of Putin's posible successors

Personal sanctions against Russian oligarchs, who in one way or another helped Putin's regime to get on its feet in the first place and then try to break the current world order, were more recently a matter of skepticism and irony. Especially for the foreign media, which hyped interviews, for example, with Abramovich, where the "impoverished" tycoon complained that he could not hire a maid...

But the noose of sanctions turned out to be too tight (because the initiators apparently spared the soap for the rope), and now we are surprised to see the discussion (if you can call it that) of various middle-class "good Russians" about "good" and not-so-good sanctioned moneybags.

“The noose of sanctions turned out to be too tight (because the initiators apparently spared the soap for the rope), and now we are surprised to see the discussion (if you can call it that) of various middle-class "good Russians" about "good" and not-so-good sanctioned moneybags.”

Recently, the text of an appeal by several representatives of the Russian "exile" - Putin's opponents - addressed to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has appeared online. The document, published by the editor-in-chief of the Echo of Moskow, Alexei Venediktov, states that it is inexpedient to impose sanctions against the leaders of the Russian Alfa Group, in particular Mikhail Fridman and his business partners (German Khan, Alexey Kuzmichev, and Petr Aven). They say that before the war, these people were major investors in the Ukrainian economy and were not "noticed" in the Kremlin dictator's entourage.

Well, as for business in Ukraine before the war, these people, like other businessmen, pursued their mercantile goals first and foremost. In other words, they were making money here. And some of the people on the list did get "smeared" - Petr Aven was among the group of rich people who met with Putin on February 24, 2022 (!). Yes, we can now say that the "bunker one" used this "summit" to expand the circle of people responsible for his adventure, but no one was leading Aven on a leash. People at his level have enough reason to refuse unwanted rendezvous.

However, the letter to Borrell reveals other things. Among the signatories for Fridman and Co. was Leonid Volkov, chairman of the board of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF). The Foundation, whose founder and inspirer is the "Oscar-winning" fprisoner of colony #2 in Pokrovsk, Vladimir region of Russia. The same Navalny who does not hide his political ambitions and, in my opinion, took a desperate step to realize them - he returned to Putin's Russia, knowing that he was facing prison. Navalny who until recently talked about the "Crimea sandwich" and, therefore, having caught the world's intention to completely destroy Mother Russia, urgently changed his gastronomic and political position.

“The appearance of the ACF chairman's signature on the appeal to lift sanctions against Friedman and his Alfa Group associates indicates, first, that Navalny is not an independent figure, and that the sanctioned oligarchs are, to some extent, the "wallets" of his opposition activities.”

The appearance of the ACF chairman's signature on the appeal to lift sanctions against Fridman and his Alfa Group associates indicates, first, that Navalny is not an independent figure, and that the sanctioned oligarchs are, to some extent, the "wallets" of his opposition activities. Secondly, sensing the inevitable defeat of the Putin regime, the ACF team is taking care of, so to speak, future sponsors of their leader's election campaign. And for this purpose, they must first preserve their "nest eggs" so that these sponsors are not robbed to the bone. Not least, for the sake of rebuilding Ukraine. After all, it is clear that the seized assets of the Russian wealthy will also be used as part of reparations and contributions.

The fact that my version is not without foundation is also evidenced by the fact that among the Russian opposition, which, of course, is not unanimously focused on Navalny, voices of disagreement with the advocacy of Fridman and Alfa Group were heard. In particular, former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev spoke out. "People from Alfa helped build Putinism. It's not even funny to present them as victims of the regime. But the Russian habits of "bringing in" and "solving" should be gradually squeezed out. All decisions on sanctions are adopted by Kyiv. And Kyiv needs weapons to win," he wrote on his Telegram.

He also added that Fridman and his partners from Alfa Group did not even undertake to fulfill the requirements that could have started the process of lifting sanctions against them.

Volkov, after being criticized, admitted that his signature in the letter to Borrell "was a mistake." "Of course, he opened his cards in advance behind the green cloth around which the crooks were gathered.

“And that would be fine: let the "good Russians" eat among themselves, sharing not only the skin of the unkilled Putin, but also, by the way, the consequences of the Ukrainian victory, which is won by hecatombs of victims, blood and life disasters of millions. But recently, the "Ukrainian journalist" Dmitry Gordon was photographed in Kyiv with the "clown" Evgeny Chichvarkin.”

And that would be fine: let the "good Russians" eat among themselves, sharing not only the skin of the unkilled Putin, but also, by the way, the consequences of the Ukrainian victory, which is won by hecatombs of victims, blood and life disasters of millions. But recently, the "Ukrainian journalist" Dmitry Gordon was photographed in Kyiv with the "clown" Evgeny Chichvarkin. Don't let the clothes of this "great Russian man" confuse you - Chichvarkin is a millionaire, the founder of Euroset. A longtime resident of London City (because he did not agree with Putin's intention to "squeeze" Euroset from him), he has a lot to talk about with Ukrainian followers of "libertarianism." Let me remind you that once upon a time, both the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Stefanchuk, and the top People’s Servant, Oleksiy Korniyenko, dabbled in this. They did it not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because they needed to create at least some ideological basis for the party that was "built on one knee."

After all, Chichvarkin is unlikely to have spoken to Gordon (and also the "journalist," and to the residents of Bankova Street) about libertarianism...

One thing is important to us in this spider's turmoil in the jar of "good Russians": to know about their intentions to preserve the empire and the fortunes of their own "wallets" in order to conquer the Kremlin and its surroundings on the wave of Ukrainian blood.

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist and editor of the website Espreso.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.