> I don't know why you claim the oligarchs are western backed when they're locals. Because I use words correctly that you apparently struggle with. If they wer

> I don't know why you claim the oligarchs are western backed when they're locals. Because I use words correctly that you apparently struggle with. If they weren't locals, they would be western oligarchs. As they are locals, they are merely western-backed oligarchs. I am unsure why you think "backed" means they must be westerners. When the USSR dissolved, the ruble collapsed and Russia's state assets were sold for dollars. Those who had close relationships -- backing -- of western financial institutions and wealthy elites could buy up Russia's state owned enterprises for literally pennies on the dollar, as long as they had dollars. Jumbo jets loaded with pallets of dollars were flown from New York to Moscow, and used to buy up Russian oil, forest, fishing, coal, diamond, gas, and gold companies in a firesale. If the global reserve currency was CNY, and anyone who had the backing of Beijing elites could purchase Russian assets for pennies on the Yuan, then I would say "Eastern-backed". But that's not what happened, it was the western backed elites who became oligarchs. I am not sure why you think the fact that they were locals didn't mean that they weren't western-backed. > Or why you claim Putin is a departure from Yeltsin You might as well say "I don't know why you claim that the Soviet Union was socialist". Please study some history. The entire reason why the US hates Putin is because he held a meeting with the oligarchs and told them they could keep their gains under Yeltsin, but going forward they needed to stay out of politics and start paying taxes, including paying royalties on export of Russian oil. He also began to renationalize the most important companies. He put an end to the money spigot in which all of Russia's resources were being sold to profit both the oligarchs, and their actual financial backers in the West. The Russian state didn't receive royalties on the sale of oil and mineral wealth for the decade following the collapse of the USSR, it all went to Exxon, various western banks, and the various oligarchs who brokered these deals. Putin changed all that, and all of a sudden the Russian state began receiving tax revenue, pensions started being paid again, the state came alive, and household incomes more than tripled. Life expectancy began to go up. The West has never forgiven him for this. Those oligarchs who didn't accept these conditions fled to their backers in the West and began agitating for the overthrow of Putin and a return to Yeltsin-style looting. They are portrayed in the Western media as "pro-democracy" billionaires. Some went to Ukraine, which remained on the Yeltsin path, with oligarchs fielding private militias, refusing to pay taxes, and funneling money back to their western backers. Any time there was even a hint of someone like Putin winning an election in Ukraine that would put an end to this resource extraction game, NATO went in and overthrew them in a coup. This is why Ukraine, which used to be the wealthiest province in the USSR, has 1/3 the income per capita of Russia now, and is tied with Moldova for being the poorest nation in Europe (Moldova another former soviet republic controlled by "pro-democracy" forces). It's not because the Ukrainians are less capable or less educated, but because they are under the thumbs of western-backed oligarchs that loot the country, and NATO is their enforcer. > A number of Ukrainian oligarchs also helped Russia efforts to subvert Ukrainian democracy. Ex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Medvedchuk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Medvedchuk By "subvert democracy", you mean "oppose the latest NATO coup" -- e.g. "promote democracy". And Medvechuk is hardly an oligarch (although he is wealthy). He is not even a billionaire - the oligarchs were all billionaires, at least at their peak. Trillions worth of resources were plundered by the West during the Yeltsin era. Although it is true that those oligarchs who took Putin's deal and agreed to start paying taxes and stay out of politics can be called "former western-backed" and some may have even warmed to him although as a group they still remain enemies. I said Putin "reigned in" the oligarchs, not "eliminated them". Seriously, at this point, I need to disengage, but please study the history of this region.