It would be great if Oligarchs around the world were uncomfortable.

This should be and opportunity to catalogue just exactly who the oligarchs are and what are their assets and how are they affected.

Might also be helpful to declare that anything confiscated from an oligarch will be given back to the Russian people/state after everything has calmed down.

That's what's happening in part to frozen assets of the Afghan Central Bank [1], so it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility – but how that would work in practice in Putin controlled Russia I have no idea.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/politics/executive-order-...

I honestly thought the revelation of the Panama Papers would trigger something similar, here's hoping this new conflict will help move the needle...

Oligarchs don't run the country. They have zero control. It's like saying let's sanction Elon Musk for Iraq. The country is run by the military. Protesters are jailed for 3-5 years.

Putin has a direct tie to all ologarch money - they need to give him his cut for "protection" (from him) so as to not get poloniumed.

So any hit to a Russian Oligarch can eventually lead to a personal hit to Putin.

However, with all the resources of an entire nation under his singular pudgy fist, im sure he has plenty of shell-assets all across the west.

Also, ne thing we are not talking about is how the Russian mafia is profitting.

There is a huge Russo-Israeli mafia (speocifically in NYC (Kutchner fam)) and they apparently own a ton of real estate in NYC. This is who co-opted 1980s Dnald Trump...

If you arent familiar with this part of history, its been well hidden - but the Russo-Israeli Mafia in NYC is powerful. Follow the money and all that...

The human cost of all of this is going to result in a shitstorm of suffering on the part of young russian women as human trafficking is going to spike in the next ~18 months.

> * Handicap Russia's ability to wage war. This includes eliminating their ability to buy supplies and destroying their morale.

But if we still fear the atomic war, he can still threatens Europe with that.

Nuclear weapons are very delicate and expensive to maintain, especially if you have thousands of them. After having seen the awful state of their tanks and army trucks, I'm less worried about their nuclear abilities.

me too. Said that, they definitely can reach Germany.

Their weapons can reach any country in the world, including the US. I don’t think anyone in any intelligence community would refute that.

That is a legitimate worry but there’s no counter to it other than reminding Putin that a nuclear attack would cause a massive automated, nuclear counter attack that would destroy him too.

There’s no defence against submarine based warheads; enough will get through.

It’s the reason that NATO isn’t going establish a no fly zone over Ukraine. They know it too.

At this point, what do you think that Putin has to loose?

The guy is 70 years old. An old, lonely, bitter man. His wife left him in 2013 and his kids are far away from him. All his Wealth is blocked, he will never be able to enjoy his life outside of his little empire. He has nothing to loose.

He could choose the bunker, but maybe he decides to bring the whole world with him. And if he decided already, nothing that we do, will make him happy. We are just deciding to die without even a fight.

The song that describes Putin right now:

"I am alone, this bitter man that I've become Hold my breath, laid to rest Drown in my tears, there's nothing left of me I am alone, the angry man upon his throne I can't pretend, the great descent Take my hand until the end You see me on the horizon I am the air you breathe I sold my soul to the seven seas Condemned and lost, pulled off course I will never leave, I'm always yours"

Any given day - Bitter Man

Can’t say I disagree with the sentiment.

I can’t see what he has to gain from this war. There’s no upside for him.

All I can think is that he’s got something like Parkinson's, knows he’s on the way out and just wants throw his weight around one last time.

Honestly though your guess is as good as mine.

There are various commentators who came to the conclusion he wants his legacy to be the restoration of the Russian empire. If that's truly the case, the move of attacking Ukraine while not caring about economic consequences makes sense. Or at least it made sense until the sanctions became so heavy.

if that is the case, he won't stop in the ukraine...

Oligarchs don't run the country. They have zero control. It's like saying let's sanction Elon Musk for Iraq. The country is run by the military. Protesters are jailed for 3-5 years.

Cornering a dictator with a nuke is the stupidest foreign policy I can think of.

The definition of an oligarch is "someone who is part of a small group that runs a country." (Wiktionary)

So, you can try to claim that Russia doesn't have oligarchs, but if they exist you can't say that they don't run the country.

EDIT: For example, if the country is run by the military as you say, then the top leaders of the military would make up the oligarchy and each of them would be an oligarch.

I'm unsure how any dictator could run a country in the absence of some form of supporting oligarchy.

Sure, but the sanctions are aimed at the rich businessmen not military leaders (who aren't necessarily all that rich). Eg Khadorkovsky was the richest oligarch of Russia, has been jailed and became a major opponent of Putin.

Wonder who are the oligarchs of USA by that definition?

What makes you think you know better than anyone else who is actually running Russia?

I am Russian, and I know some billionaires ("oligarchs"). They don't spend much time in Russia and don't support Putin in any way. More than anyone they realise how fucked up the regime is, which is why they stash money abroad. Putin does what he wants.

An American billionaire is a successful businessman. A Russian billionaire is an oligarch.