The elite in russia becomes wealthy by extracting natural resources from the vast territories of the russian federation's member republics. They need the distan

The elite in russia becomes wealthy by extracting natural resources from the vast territories of the russian federation's member republics. They need the distant republics and ethnic minorities to stay poor, dependent, and deferential to moscow. The danger putin would see in "dividing into categories" is ethnic pride (in anything but russian ethnicity), uprisings, and "colour revolutions".