The Ukraine war thread

[Renauda]

Substantial, if true. I however remain sceptical that Lavrov is on Putin’s naughty list.

[Mik]

Not being privy to internal Kremlin politics, it would seem unwise to alienate Lavrov who clearly has his own following. I doubt his absence means any more than was said.

[Renauda]

Not likely that Lavrov would be entirely sidelined, his expertise in security and foreign affairs is too valuable. A very uncompromising person.

[Renauda]

I should add however, that he should henceforth avoid all windows located above the ground floor. After all, one can’t be too careful in these troubled times.

[Mik]

Ah, yes. The gravity of the situation.

[jon-nyc]

I was heartened by this.

[Mik]

The comments are interesting too. It's perhaps not apples to apples but it's a good development, nonetheless.

[Mik]

Not a good development, but probably to be expected given the environment Ukraine endured under Soviet rule.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-s-top-ministers-resign-amid-100m-corruption-scandal/ar-AA1Qjy5u

[Wim]

Putin's power bloc cracking?

https://www.kyivpost.com/videos/64394

[Mik]

Interesting.

[Renauda]

@Wim

Makes sense in so far as Russia is not and never has been a monolith state. It also explains the internal struggle since the dissolution of the USSR between the siloviki (strongmen - security services, military) and the financial/industrial business elites. He correctly identifies Rosneft’s Igor Sechin as more than just associated with the FSB. Back in the 90’s Rosneft was the poor boy in the oil patch a badly managed state owned oil company that could not compete with its privatized competition like LUKOil or Surgutneftegaz. That all changed with the arrival of Putin in the Kremlin and during the course of his first two terms Rosneft came to be among the top three Russian oil companies. By now it is probably the most powerful in the country as in terms of production, refining capacity and lucrative financial assets outside of the oil business internally and abroad.