Why Are Russia's 'Elite' Disappearing so Fast? - Silicon Curtain [View all]

Edition No228 | 20-08-2025 - So many of Putin’s publicly faithful minions are dropping like flies. Businessmen, oligarchs, apparatchiks, minigarchs and occasionally intelligence personnel. This compels us to ask the question, is everything ok Vova? Are you worried about something? Are people plotting behind your back? Are they whispering about you? Or does Putin need to push some people out of the way (permanently) to make way for more fervent or more brutal loyalists?

We record this episode as another oligarch has just joined the great Kobzon concert (концерт Кобзона in the sky, in what seems to be somewhat mysterious circumstances, yet again. In August 2025, Mikhail Kenin, co‑founder and largest shareholder of Samolet Group (29% holding) — Russia’s largest housing developer—died suddenly, aged 57. The company eulogized him: “Mikhail Borisovich was one of those people who leave their mark on the earth… endowed with natural talents… an excellent organiser…” (fakti.bg). But in Putin’s dictatorship, you should not believe in coincidences.

Russia’s “vertical of power” operates without rule of law, without an impartial judiciary, without an independent legislature. This breeds a system steeped in theft, violence, and fear — eerily reminiscent of the lawless 1990s, but then the state was weak. Now we have lawlessness of the 90s combined with an overweening, powerful and paranoid state apparatus reminiscent of the 1930s.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction and Context
00:51 The Mysterious Deaths of Putin's Inner Circle
02:11 Russia's Vertical of Power
05:27 The Role of Corruption and Fear
06:33 Historical Context: The 1990s to Now
08:31 The Mafia Code and Governance
11:30 Case Studies: Recent Deaths
18:20 Conclusion: The Kremlin's Deadly Grip