Russian oligarchs gained immense wealth when the Soviet Union fell, and state-run industries were privatized in return for services to the new regime. Men like Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, and Alisher Usmanov are immensely rich, and Putin also has billions invested outside the country. Because they fear Putin, most have moved their wealth outside of Russia, hiding their identities through shell companies. Now global economic pariahs, they risk losing their fortunes to the West and, if the speak out, their lives to the Kremlin.

Recent sanctions imposed on them by the west after the invasion of Ukraine are proving effective, and they should be expanded. Oil and gas revenues are a prime source of Russian income. Westerners working to uncover oligarch identities and holdings are also at risk of retaliation.