Tag: Vladimir Putin

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Graphic novels and comics

Graphic novel : La fortune de Poutine

The graphic novel: La fortune de Poutine (Putin's fortune).
The graphic novel: La fortune de Poutine (Putin’s fortune).

This graphic novel in French on Putin’s fortune recounts the events surrounding Vladimir Putin‘s rise to power and the establishment of his personal fortune. The latter is built through the exfiltration of colossal sums belonging to the Russian people, which are redirected to shell companies and tax havens.

As the story spans several decades, the reader becomes familiar with a multitude of company names and key political and economic figures.

As in the case of other major powers, there are also political and economic wheeling and dealing.

Russia’s power structure differs from that of the West. Relationships with the president play a much more important role than in the West. Benefits are granted in exchange for unwavering loyalty. The links between Silvio Berlusconi and Putin are just one example.

The scale of outflows of money from Russia for discreet purposes is astonishing. To cite just one example, the author notes the creation of Operation Luch (a capital flight estimated at $50 billion) in 1990 to counter the changes brought about by Gorbachev. This involved dipping into secret KGB funds abroad to enrich a fund that could be used to ensure the survival of the party and other vested interests.

“Since Putin came to power, the total amount of dirty money taken out of Russia and laundered through Western banks has been at least $1,000,000,000 (one thousand billion dollars)!

So, the West’s hands are not clean when it comes to what’s going on in Russia. When there’s quick money to be made and shareholders expect an unreasonable balance sheet, virtue takes a back seat to practicality. European accomplices include Danske Bank (Denmark), SEB and Swedbank (Sweden), Crédit Suisse, Banca Intesa (Italy), Deutsche Bank Russia, Appleby-Estera (offshore services firm), Cyprus (financial services firms), Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The reader also notes the accumulation of suicides by all kinds of officials over the years. For example, the author notes the disguised suicides of Nikolai Kruchina, Georgy Pavlov and Dimitri Lissovolik. These men, with their precarious balance, all had the annoying habit of taking the air on a balcony too high for their capacity. The KGB doubted the reliability of these men, who managed the party’s secret funds in the West.

Poisoning (with the poison Novitchok) is also a favored method for ironing out political differences. But this state of affairs is already well known to Westerners, as most failed or successful operations are the subject of numerous articles in the media. For example, this was the case for Navalny and Skripal. For Yushchenko, the winner of the Ukrainian presidential elections, dioxin was used but the source was not confirmed.

Under Putin, the oligarchs can keep the fortunes acquired through the many privatizations, but there is no longer any question of them interfering in political affairs. The book also looks at the deteriorating relationship between Putin and oligarchs such as Berezovsky (found hanged in his London bathroom) and Khodorkovsky.

If a devoted collaborator changes sides, at best he can survive by leaving the country and remaining apolitical. Otherwise, his plane may explode in flight, as in the case of Prigozhin.

The book shows how Ivan Rybkyn, a political opponent of Putin’s in 2004, withdrew after an impromptu van ride. It seems that he was seized and forced into the vehicle. This experience and the likely discussions that took place during the ride were enough to convince the candidate that he wasn’t really cut out for politics.

A page from the graphic novel "La fortune de Poutine".
A page from the graphic novel “La fortune de Poutine”.

In the 90s, the Tambov mafia clan protected Putin and Sobchak and helped run the port of St. Petersburg. This did not prevent a “road accident” involving Vladimir Putin’s daughters and wife. Those dissatisfied with their share of the cake raised the stakes, and Putin had to bring the families together to work things out between them. Pragmatically, he sent his daughters to Germany for their safety. The legal guardian was Matthias Warnig, a former STASI officer.

The author points out that Russian money was used to influence the Brexit result (51.89%), this with the aim of weakening Europe. Then, as we already know, Russia influenced the voting result in key US states to help elect Donald Trump.

The graphic novel ends with a documentary dossier, with photos, drawings and references for those who want more information.

What about Putin’s fortune? According to the authors’ research, it’s between 150 and 250 billion euros.

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Title: La fortune de Poutine (Putin’s fortune)

Authors: Yvonnick Denoël and Gildas Java

Publisher: Nouveau monde graphic, © 2024

ISBN : 978-2-38094-501-0

Categories
Graphic novels and comics

Graphic Novel: Wagner

The graphic novel "Wagner", l'histoire secrète des mercenaires de Poutine.
The graphic novel “Wagner”, l’histoire secrète des mercenaires de Poutine.

“Wagner” is a top-quality graphic novel, the fruit of serious research based on numerous known and confidential sources.

Thanks to the large concentration of relevant data in a single volume, readers will quickly gain a better understanding of the international role played by this mercenary group supported by Vladimir Putin, which has gradually established itself in Mali, the Central African Republic, Libya and Syria, before attacking the Ukrainians.

The book includes the names of numerous companies, corporations and foundations (Concord, IRA [Internet Research Agency], SEWA Security Services, Lobaye Invest, M-Finance, M-Invest, Meroe Gold, Midas Resources, First Industrial Company, International Global Logistic [IGL], Alpha Development, Marko Mining, Prime Security, etc.) and a host of players who played a major role in sharing control of natural resources (mines, forests, etc.) in the Central African Republic and Mali.

The book shows how the short-sightedness of certain politicians and intelligence services enabled Wagner to gain a foothold in Africa without too much difficulty. It sheds light on the hasty departure of the French in Mali and the Chinese south of Bamako.

African leaders and customs officials turn a blind eye to the transfer of gold and diamonds to Russia. But I don’t have to dig very far in my memory to point out that many great powers have enjoyed similar treatment in other places on our beautiful planet.

Scriptwriter and illustrator Thierry Chavant is careful not to over-censor the actions of Wagner’s mercenaries, who sometimes think of themselves as soldiers. The explicit drawings shed light on the crimes committed by these killers, including rape, torture and the systematic elimination of hundreds of people at a time.

Despite these radical methods, the mercenaries do not have it easy against determined opponents. Wagner lost many fighters to the jihadists in Africa, but far fewer than in Ukraine, where the group suffered a literal debacle, with tens of thousands killed and wounded.

Even Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin lost their lives when the private jet they were in exploded over Russia. The question I still ask myself today: how can anyone be so stupid as to continue to fly calmly over Russia after having tried to seize power by force a few weeks earlier?

The book confirms that international geostrategy has two faces: an acceptable side, where diplomats and businessmen work hard to gain advantages for themselves or their countries. But there’s also a much more violent side, where the main principles give way to the desire to win new territories with the wealth they contain. And there, any means are good enough to achieve the goal, be it obscure financing, threats, summary executions, overthrowing governments or even modern-day slavery.

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Title: Wagner

Investigation: Matthieu Olivier and Benjamin Roger

Script and drawing: Thierry Chavant

Colour: Mathilda

Authors: Thierry Chavant

Publisher: Les arènes BD

© 2024

ISBN: 979-10-375-1111-9

Categories
Graphic novels and comics

Accidental Czar

The graphic novel "Accidental Czar: The life and lies of Vladimir Putin".
The graphic novel “Accidental Czar: The life and lies of Vladimir Putin”.

Note: The excerpts are taken from the French version of “Tsar par accident” and re-translated into English using DeepL.

Author Andrew S. Weiss has worked at the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and so on. He points out: “If someone had told me at the time that a former KGB non-commissioned officer – who had never really shone – a certain Vladimir Putin […] – would be promoted from the back rooms of the Kremlin directly to the head of the country, I would have told you to get yourself treated”. He adds: “What we think we know about him is often a clever mix of counter psychology and misinterpretations of Russia‘s thousand-year-old history “. His staging as a tough guy “allows him to come across as more intelligent – and more competent – than he really is. […] “.

The graphic novel “Accident Czar” tells the story of how Vladimir Putin found himself in power at a time when his rather lacklustre career was destined for a lesser position. But the same could be said of some of the world’s dictators, presidents, kings and ministers over the ages who have been blessed with good fortune. They too have taken advantage of favorable opportunities to climb the ladder too high for their natural talent. The nation then pays the price until the person’s overthrow, exile or death.

Still, we have to give Putin credit for persisting, for hanging on, despite setbacks and rejections. To join the KGB, he was told to study or join the army. He did so and received his diploma.

In 1975, he joined the KGB. But it wasn’t the big missions he had dreamed of that awaited him, but local fieldwork. He failed to impress his superiors with the results he achieved. Following a brawl in the subway, he was transferred to Dresden in 1985, where his missions were meaningless due to lack of budget. In 1999, President Clinton was told that Putin would be the next Russian president. What had happened between 1985 and 1999 for Putin to suddenly emerge from obscurity and become President of Russia?

Credit must be given to his work ethic, but above all to his loyalty to his bosses in an organization that favors personal ties. Yeltsin, the president at the time, sensed his end was coming and offered Putin a deal. The author writes: “He would make him president if he agreed to protect him and his family“.

Just as Hindenburg believed he could manipulate Hitler by giving him access to the highest echelons of government, so Yeltsin thought he could do the same with Putin. In both cases, it was a costly mistake for Europe and the world.

The book reviews the rise of the Russian oligarchs, and the rapprochement of power for Putin’s friends. Andrew Weiss points out: “One of the points that foreigners don’t always grasp is that Russia is a society that operates on the basis of personal ties, rather than within the framework of institutions or the rule of law.“

In the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, important sectors of the Russian economy were taken over by corrupt officials and KGB agents, as well as by the mafia. As the author writes: “Vladimir Kumarin, all-powerful boss of the notorious Tambov gang, ruled the country“.

Vladimir Putin’s support for the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001 brought him closer to George W. Bush and his father George H. W. Bush, with whom he even went fishing in Kennebunkport. He hoped to revive the moribund Russian economy and gain the freedom to control the Russian media.

What’s most astonishing to me is that, during this period, Putin approved the highly controversial establishment of American and NATO bases across the former Soviet Union (Uzbekistan,Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan). With this gesture, he was seeking stabilization with the West. With the causes of the September 11th 2001 attacks still being debated around the world today, especially in the most informed circles, Putin was later forced to reflect on the relevance and consequences of his decision to authorize new American and NATO bases near Russia.

The Russian president quickly realizes that he doesn’t carry much weight in the diplomatic balance against a superpower like the United States. He is not recognized as a player to be reckoned with. With a view to better understanding between the West and Russia, the author stresses the importance of better understanding the grievances of both sides. He points out that this is sorely lacking.

Especially since the Kremlin is convinced that “demands for political change are always the result of Western-backed conspiracies“. All the major nations, by dint of monitoring each other and trying to influence the internal management of other countries, are projecting their intentions and no longer believe that a protest can come from the bottom up, based on a serious desire to improve certain detestable policies.

The author takes a look back at the problems surrounding Russia’s territorial security through the ages, invaded in turn by the Mongols, Napoleon and Hitler: “[Russia] traditionally relies on annexed territories to act as a buffer between the motherland and any external threat“. He also discusses the Chechen conflict, the fight against terrorism, political interference in neighboring states and Russian involvement in the 2016 US elections.

Andrew S. Weiss covers a lot of ground, and other themes find their way into the book: the history of the Cold War, Trump, Snowden, Wikileaks, the Sochi Olympics and the work of Maria Butina, a Russian agent who managed to penetrate the upper circles of the American Republican Party.

It was his belief in the irreversible decline of the West that enabled Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

The author concludes with a remark on the invasion of that country and the indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets: “The world is beginning to understand that Putin was never the strategist he claimed to be. He is an improviser caught in his own trap”.

Allow me to make a comment about the invasion of Ukraine. This country is to receive fighter planes from the Allied States to protect its territory, which deeply offends Russia. However, I would like to remind you that during the Second World War, the Soviet Union accepted a great deal of outside help for its defense on the Eastern Front. To name just one aircraft and country, the Soviet Union obtained 877 B-25 Mitchell bombers from the USA.

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Title: Accidental Czar: The life and lies of Vladimir Putin.

Author: Andrew S. Weiss. Illustrator: Brian « Box » Brown

Edition: Macmillan Publishers

ISBN: 9781250760753

© 2022

Categories
Geopolitics

Germany and rearmament.

Vladimir Putin claims that he feels trapped by NATO. To improve his strategic position, he invades Ukraine and destroys most of its important installations, both civilian and military, killing and starving thousands in the process.

The great powers, and especially the dictatorships, find it infinitely difficult to think out of the box when they know that they have access to a military solution. Soldiers and bombs will settle a long-standing dispute.

By adopting a pattern of thinking from the Middle Ages, Vladimir Putin has created a rebound effect. Many neighboring countries now live in fear of an unwarranted attack. Rather than diminishing the military capacity of neighboring countries as he would like, Putin has only succeeded in strengthening their will to unite and rearm.

For example, Germany was to develop, in partnership with other countries, the next fighter jet to fly in the European sky. This would, of course, take years to design, but little thought was given to it. The country had clearly been on the path of pacifism for decades. The invasion of Ukraine changed everything. The Germans are ramping up the pace so much that they are now ordering existing aircraft already on the market. To hell with research, delays and especially the fact that the aircraft will come from the United States.

The German government has chosen the American F-35. This military jet has the characteristic of being able to transport the nuclear weapon in a stealthy manner.

Russia will now have to redouble its efforts to monitor the skies over Europe for this powerful aircraft which is difficult to detect and capable of inflicting heavy losses in the event of a conflict.

It has also been noted that the majority of damage in Ukraine has come from air attacks. Because the Patriot missile defense system is only effective at short range, the Germans recently visited Israel to learn more about the Arrow 3. This defensive interceptor system is capable of destroying missiles at medium and long ranges, even those flying outside the earth’s atmosphere.

A nuclear-capable US stealth fighter for the German Air Force? A long-range missile defense system on German territory? The country was a long way from any of these discussions in early 2022. Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine have reignited the arms race for many countries.

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Categories
Geopolitics

Vladimir Putin and Germany

Vladimir Putin‘s war against Ukraine has finally had an unexpected effect: Germany has woken up to its national security and its responsibility to NATO. The Germans have announced that they will now invest massively to equip themselves with military forces worthy of the name. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken of spending around 100 billion euros over the next few years.

Russia’s unwarranted invasion of Ukraine has certainly brought back old memories in Germany. With Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Hitler had attacked Russia by surprise, despite having given his word, resulting in the biggest battle of all time. Millions of people died in this one conflict.

A non-aggression agreement between two countries remains valid only until one of the two partners changes his mind. That is as good as it gets. The Germans showed this to Russia in 1941.

With Russia invading a free country like Ukraine, Germany has realized that it cannot take anything for granted anymore. Today the country is in a vulnerable position and needs to increase its autonomy in the face of a potential attack, especially since most NATO members do not take seriously their responsibility towards military spending.

Moreover, it can no longer really count on the intervention of the United States. American foreign policy and its vision of NATO are now likely to change every four years, depending on whether Trump or one of his allies is elected. This is nothing to secure Europe. Putin put an end to daydreaming.

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