this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Vladimir Putin’s government has launched an aggressive campaign to nationalize the assets of Konstantin Strukov, one of Russia’s richest men and the owner of the country’s largest gold mining company. The move marks a sharp escalation in the Kremlin’s efforts to extract wealth from within its own elite as the financial toll of the war in Ukraine deepens.

Strukov, whose fortune is estimated at over $3.5 billion, is the founder of Yuzhuralzoloto—a gold empire built over decades with strong ties to the Kremlin. But on July 5, his private jet was grounded by Russian authorities as it prepared to leave for Turkey. His passport was reportedly seized, and the aircraft barred from departing.

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[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago (1 children)

That's what you get for siding with fascists. People will never learn.

Just like Ancient Rome. The dictator needs cash so he murders the rich people who aren’t his friends and takes their money

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

The billionaires?

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

tax the rich! (slight /s)

what i'm wondering is:

who exactly wanted this war? i.e., i guess it was not a single-person decision. probably a number of oligarchs are behind it because they think they can profit from either the conflict or the outcome of it.

everybody knows that wars are hella expensive. i guess most wars are decided by economic factors, i.e. who can stay solvent longer. what did the oligarchs think would happen to their wealth due to the war?

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

Putin's power draws from his adversaries and foreign policy. He is very weak domestically, mostly at the behest of the oligarchs that run the entire domestic policy show.

Putin muscling around internally usually has to do with the oligarch's stance on foreign policy or the other oligarchs are wanting to eat one of their own.

[–] skozzii@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The Putin giveth and the Putin taketh away.

[–] aphonefriend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 days ago

Minus the giveth part.

[–] JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

So when do the oligarchs learn? How much longer do they accept the status quo?

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Let’s make a bingo card out of it. What are our options?

[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 217 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Billionaires siding with dictators thinking they'll be protected?

I genuinely cannot wait until Thiel gets his comeuppance, one way or the other.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 125 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It's funny to me that they think they'll be special, every single time. "They won't throw me out the window for my fortune!"

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 53 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Leopards Throwing Out Of Windows Party

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[–] Saleh@feddit.org 35 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Well, in the case of Nazi Germany it worked spectacularly well. Many of Germanys most rich people are inheritors to industrial fortunes that got unimaginably rich with selling weapons to the Nazi army and using forced labor from the concentration camps. The families Quandt/Klatten (BMW) and Porsche/Piech (Porsche,VW, Audi...) come to mind directly. The Krupps are also still in the game although they have gambled a lot of money away over the past decades

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 148 points 1 week ago (20 children)

This is a pretty good example of why I say even millinoaires and billionaires should support a functional democractic society with taxation and regulation and social safety nets. Its the old penny wise and pound foolish. Getting a sliver more and a sliver more and then you lose it all because the rule of law was thrown out long ago. It won't necessarily take that long to. At a certain point it could happen at any time. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 67 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This all depends on the people born into wealth being reasonable people.

Most are unhinged psychopaths or nepo babies with too much ego.

Which is why wealth needs to be forcefully redistributed, they won't do it voluntarily.

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[–] burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago (2 children)

a functional democratic society would not have billionaires and hopefully millionaires neither

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[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 77 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (25 children)

The USA elite should take notice. It'll happen to them too. Trump will ruin them if things get between himself and them.

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[–] ddplf@szmer.info 62 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's funny because $3.5bln is nothing when trying to cover the war effort, but it'll spark a massive distrust in the Kremlin's inner circle, which is basically the only group of people that can realistically threaten Putin's very life.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

I'm still waiting for these fuckers to finally grow some balls.

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[–] arc99@lemmy.world 45 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Soon these oligarchs won't even own a window to jump out of

[–] Tja@programming.dev 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The government will provide one, they are generous like that.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 1 week ago

Our window.

[–] KMAMURI@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Tea is cheap.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 44 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Strukov’s company has denied the incident entirely, stating that he was in Moscow on the day in question and calling the reports “disinformation.” But court documents confirm that a judge had already banned him and his family from leaving the country, and government agencies moved quickly to enforce it.

I will now recommend the Sad Oligarch podcast. Short series on the mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs in the last few years.

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[–] oppy1984@lemdro.id 41 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

Somebody didn't watch Rules for Rulers, keep your elite happy or they'll come together and turn on you.

Fingers crossed.

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[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (4 children)

And let this be a lesson to US Billionaires.

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[–] MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world 33 points 1 week ago (12 children)

Conversely, if Putin falls out a window, maybe they can keep their business.

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[–] pawnfuture@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago

This is the oligarchy that American technocrats want to recreate at home. Owning things is dependent on being alive. Maybe paying a couple percent extra on taxes is worth it.

[–] doo@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 week ago

What a great way to show the inefficiency of sanctions! /s

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