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Curated by: Caleb McMurtrey (30 videos)
Putin did not break Russia’s oligarchs by making them poor. He broke them by making their wealth conditional. In this video, I trace how Russia moved from the chaos of the 1990s, when billionaires could influence politics, media, and the state itself, into Putin’s system, where wealth survives only when it serves the Kremlin. We look at the rise of the post-Soviet oligarchs, Putin’s early bargain with Russia’s richest men, the warnings sent through Berezovsky and Gusinsky, and why the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the destruction of Yukos changed the rules for everyone. The bigger story is how Putin transformed independent power centers into dependent clients, replacing oligarch independence with state-controlled privilege and building the elite system that still defines Russia today. 🧠Join my Patreon and get weekly reports on what's going on in the world! https://patreon.com/CalebMcMurtrey ☕️ Interested in supporting the channel? Consider buying me some coffee! 👇 https://www.buymeacoffee.com/threatsandb 🔥 Get unbiased and balanced news while tracking bias from the largest news outlets with Ground News using my affiliate link: https://ground.news/landingV5/welcome?utm_source=threatsandtrends&utm_medium=pap-link#a_aid=threatsandtrends ⭐️ Find me at: Twitter - https://x.com/CalebBMcMurtrey Business Email - threatsandtrends@gmail.com Interested in starting a lab or sprucing up your home office? Check out these affiliate links for cool things I highly recommend! These also go to help support the channel! 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 https://kit.co/studiosec Note: I receive a small commission from any purchases of any of the gear shown in the affiliate link above. This supports the channel and keeps the content free!