Foreign Affairs

TexasTowelie

(127,538 posts) Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:54 PM 10 hrs ago

Russian Cash Crisis - Joe Blogs

Russia has taken a highly unusual step — and it tells you a lot about what’s really happening behind the scenes.

Vladimir Putin has reportedly asked Russian oligarchs to hand over cash to support the state budget as war costs continue to rise.

According to Reuters, one billionaire has already agreed to pay 100 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) — and more could follow.

This isn’t a tax.
It’s not legislation.

It’s effectively a direct cash call from the Kremlin.

In this video, we break down:

• Why Russia is running short of money
• How the war is hitting government finances
• Who the oligarchs are — and where their wealth came from
• Why this looks like a stealth tax on the rich

This is a full-circle moment — wealth created in the 1990s now being pulled back in during a crisis.

And if governments start asking billionaires for cash, it usually means one thing… there’s a serious problem.

2 replies

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Russian Cash Crisis - Joe Blogs (Original Post) TexasTowelie 10 hrs ago OP

When can they start doing that here? Claw back some of the tax breaks? ChicagoTeamster 10 hrs ago #1

Konstantin at Inside Russia had more information Warpy 8 hrs ago #2

ChicagoTeamster

(1,021 posts)

1. When can they start doing that here? Claw back some of the tax breaks?

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Sat Apr 11, 2026, 04:57 PM

10 hrs ago

Warpy

(114,627 posts)

2. Konstantin at Inside Russia had more information

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Sat Apr 11, 2026, 06:07 PM

8 hrs ago

Apparently there was a 2 hour, closed door meeting where this occurred. The one oligarch who decided to pony up was the one in charge of mining gold. While Russia can't trade its gold with the west, it has ready customers elsewhere, so he's in good shape. Everything else is going to hell and the other oligarchs are trying to keep themselves afloat any way they can, paying skeleton staff on little income, cutting work week hours, or just shutting down. They told Putin nyet. Reportedly, he left the meeting angry.

So either a lot of oligarchs are going to see if they can fly or their fortunes and businesses will just be grabbed out from under them while they watch. I'm guessing the former will precede the grabbing.

The big deal here is that they finally said no. They know that their only alternative is selling off Russia's industries to China, and that means the end of Russia, it will become a puppet state of the Chinese.

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