Putin Makes Humiliating Request as His War Costs Surge
The Daily Beast • • world
Key Points:
- Vladimir Putin is requesting financial contributions from Russia’s ultra-wealthy oligarchs to fund the ongoing war in Ukraine, particularly to capture the remaining parts of the eastern Donbas region.
- During a private meeting, Putin called for “voluntary contributions” to the state budget, a request that oligarchs are unlikely to refuse given its personal nature.
- Russian billionaires Suleiman Kerimov and Oleg Deripaska have pledged significant donations, with Kerimov offering around $1.23 billion and Deripaska also agreeing to contribute; both are under U.S. and Ukrainian sanctions.
- The Russian government is considering cutting 10 percent of non-essential budget spending due to rising war costs, while monitoring oil price fluctuations influenced by the U.S.-Israel conflict in Iran.
- Russian officials hope the current crisis will be resolved within three to four weeks, according to Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
