Putin’s options: an oligarch speaks out
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What is the overall focus of this episode and who are the main guests?
The Economist.
Hello and welcome to the intelligence from the Economist. I'm Rosie Blore. Today on the show, life in Kiev as attacks intensify, and our week long journey down Route 66 reaches its destination. But first
Four years of war have vastly changed Russia. As the fighting has come closer to home, the conflict has become everyone's problem.
Russia is facing a growing fuel shortage as Ukraine expands drone strikes on Russian energy sites, including the country's largest.
Дедні страйк санкиїв до Росія лідер із на фаси травму ам, а з вихід фром а сенс о нервness і палпаблін Москва. And discontent is becoming more audible. Russia's elite feel that the country has reached a dead end. One of them, a billionaire industrialist called Andrei Melnichenko, has been thinking about a way to change that. For the past few months, he spent over 60 hours speaking to our Russia editor, Arkady Ostrovsky. Today I'm joined by Arkady and our deputy editor Ed Carr to discuss the future of Russia and Melnichenko's. Hi Ed. Hi Akadi.
Hi Rosie. Hi Rosie.
Ed, let's deal with the nuts and bolts first. Who is Melnichenko and why are we featuring him so prominently in The Economist this week?
Well, he is an oligarch. He is one of, I would say, along with Abramovich, Russia's two most important oligarchs. He's different from many of them in that he didn't acquire his riches and wealth in assets in the nineteen nineties during the chaos there. He rather built it up as an industrialist. He's the fertilizer king. He's big in coal, big in steel. But he's also a guy who was forced back to Russia because of personal sanctions and having played by the normal rules of oligarchs, ignoring politics, make as much money as you like, he's now back in Russia, politics matters to him, Russia matters to him, and he sees Russia heading in a bad direction.
And Arkadi, tell us about the time you've spent with him. What's striking about what he says and and why should we be listening to him?
Yes, as you say, I spent about sixty hours over the past three months and it started with one meeting in Istanbul. It was not supposed to be part of an interview, and he said something to me which made me sit up. He said, For the first time in my life I feel Russia is my country. I've come back. To him it's now the only country he's going to have. This is the guy, as Ed said, who's lived this global life. I don't think it's just sanctions. I think the whole kind of order of his life has fallen apart. His factories are getting attacked by Ukrainian drones. He is also facing attacks not just from Western sanctions, but from some rapacious Russian security services who want to take part to it.
Who is Andrey Melnichenko and why is his perspective on Russia significant?
And the fact that this guy is starting to speak is actually the most striking part of it, not just what he is saying.
He's not an anti Putin figure, he's not an opposition figure, he's not an anti war figure, his plants of supply demonia that's gone into explosives for the war. He's not a rebel. That's the wrong way to think of this. This is a man who was able to forget about his homeland. He was a global citizen. He's now back in Russia, and what happens in Russia affects him directly, and so he's feels he's got to do something about it.
We all know how dangerous it is to speak out if you're inside Russia. So something big has changed here. What's changed within Russia?
Well my view is that what's changed is that the Ukrainian deep campaign has started to affect mass feeling in Russia. For most of the war, Russians have just kind of shut it out of their minds. They haven't wanted to think about the war. Well, the deep strikes are affecting ordinary life, most directly through fuel shortages. Big queues, we've seen videos of bust ups and fistfights at petrol stations. At the same time, Crimea, a big success for Putin when he annexed it in twenty fourteen, is now isolated Again. Bloggers have started to speak out. There's just a feeling that the stalemate is becoming a real problem.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the overall focus of this episode and who are the main guests?
0:03–3:28
2
Who is Andrey Melnichenko and why is his perspective on Russia significant?
3:28–6:13
3
How did Melnichenko build his industrial empire and what makes him different from other oligarchs?
6:13–8:35
4
What signs of discontent are emerging among Russia’s elite and ordinary citizens?
8:35–13:31
5
How are Ukrainian drone and missile attacks reshaping daily life in Kyiv and Russia’s energy sector?
13:31–18:19
6
What does the recent surge in drone warfare mean for the future of the conflict?
18:19–22:19
7
Why is the team traveling the historic Route 66 and what does it reveal about American culture?
22:19–24:54