The Richest Criminal in the World; Vladimir Putin’s Rise to Power

Russian President Vladimir Putin might be the richest man in the world, running the biggest criminal organization and mafia state in history.

Over the last 22 years he has officially and unofficially ruled over Russia as a dictator, through open threats and assassinations against his opponents and critics. Putin’s rise to power is marked by allegations of false flag terrorist attacks against his own people, aggressive human rights abuses, and so much embezzlement and backdoor financials that there’s evidence he may be worth upwards of $200 billion dollars.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks in 2010 show that the Russian Federation is viewed as, quote “a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centered on the leadership of Vladimir Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organized crime are bound together to create a 'virtual mafia state’.” Today we watch a paranoid, isolated and elderly Putin flail and lash out at Ukraine, NATO, the West, and even his own allies, as he fears the world around him so much that he holds fake meetings with green-screens in the middle of a war that he stands no chance of winning without resorting to nuclear options, which he might!

So how did this corrupt, former KGB spy come to be the most feared gangster on earth? Let’s dive in. The story of Putin is really the story of the most successful oligarchy of the late 20st century creating a monster they can’t control. In the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian government and economy collapsed, allowing wealthy scavengers to pick apart the former empire, selling it for pennies to the highest, most corrupt, and best connected kleptocrats.

Within a few years, much of the Soviet Union’s formerly publicly held assets, like in oil and media were consolidated in the hands of seven ultra-billionaires who created a banking syndicate of oligarchs known as the Семибанкирщина, which means “seven-banker outfit”.

For the decade between the fall of the Soviet Union and Putin’s rise to the presidency, these oligarchs controlled between 50% and 70% of all Russian finances. During this period, the country was ruled by Boris Yeltsin, the Russian Federation’s first president who ushered in this hyper-privatization. But by the time the dust had settled, he was old, unpopular, and seen as an uninspired alcoholic.

The oligarchs needed a fresh face, they, and only they could trust, and they found one in Vladimir Putin. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin was a spy for the Комитет государственной безопасности, or KGB, the notoriously repressive security agency that functioned as the regime’s secret police to oust and imprison dissidents and political opponents.

They performed illegal searches, surveillance, torture, assassinations and executions, and were well known for their oppression worldwide. When the Soviet Union fell, the newly formed Russian government res-established the KGB with ostensibly the same security function, but renamed the “Федеральная служба безопасности” or FSB and through his connections in Saint Petersburg and the KGB, Vladimir Putin was appointed as the head of the FSB in 1998. And exactly one year later he was promoted to Prime Minister of Russia under Boris Yeltsin.

Understanding his rapid ascension to the presidency is uncomplicated. Putin had close ties to all seven of Russia’s oligarchs, and spent his time in the 90s as the Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg, allegedly helping them consolidate their wealth and create criminal monopolies. For this, they rewarded him with unchecked power and influence throughout Russia’s government. But once he was President, the balance of power shifted.

Those oligarchs who continued to support him received unfettered access to Russia’s growing economy, while those who didn’t, such as Michail Khodorkovsky were imprisoned and later exiled. But Vladimir Putin needed more than just the billionaires to rule over Russia, he needed the Russian people. Just one month after his appointment as Prime Minister, Russia suffered a devastating string of terrorist attacks, known as the “Russian Apartment Bombings”.

In September of 1999, a series of explosions in residential areas killed more than 300 people, and injured over 1000. These attacks were quickly blamed on Chechnya, sparking the Second Chechen War, spearheaded by Vladimir Putin, who promised to bring the terrorists who committed this act to justice, and redeem the Russian people. Putin became enormously popular over the course of the war, and on New Years Eve 1999, President Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, making Vladimir Putin Russia’s second President, and as we now know, dictator for life.

But the truth is, the apartment bombings are now not believe to be the work of Chechen terrorists. Before the explosions occurred, Russian FSB agents were caught by local police planting one of the bombs, and multiple Russian officials and politicians over the past two decades have provided evidence and testimony claiming that the bombings were a false flag attack, at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself.

An independent commission to investigate saw one member assassinated, one member poisoned, and one member arrested - thus ending the investigation. Vladimir Putin became Russia’s dictator with an approval rating of 80%, and he’s been there ever since, and he will be until he dies.