Putin in danger of being toppled by fretful oligarchs as Ukraine war wipes out riches

Vladimir Putin's rule could come to an end when the Russian oligarchs who back him run out of money, a former US general has said.

Lt General Ben Hodges, an ex US Army commander, said the rich Russians who support Russia's president could turn on the autocrat if the war in Ukraine rages on.

Wealthy Russian oligarchs were hit with sanctions by Ukraine's western allies as a consequence of Russia's full scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Assets were frozen and travel bans imposed on them, with Mr Hodges saying the sanctions could prove pivotal in toppling Putin from power.

He told The Sun at some point the oligarchs have to get tired of the restrictions imposed on them and their fortunes.

The ex-Army commander added: "At some point, they will say, 'I can't go see my mistress on the Adriatic. I can't send my kids to school in London anymore or Stanford'. Then I think potentially something happens."

Mr Hodges urged Ukraine's allies to isolate Russia diplomatically, economically, politically and militarily from the rest of the world.

The European Union (EU) has sanctioned Putin, his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, former president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

Besides oligarchs, sanctions have been imposed by the West on members of Russia's state Duma, its National Security Council and pro-Kremlin propagandists.

While some experts have suggested oligarchs can bring Putin down, others suggest they are more or less powerless, pointing in part to a televised meeting the Russian leader held with top industrialists straight after the war widened in which he told them he had no choice but to invade.

Associated Press analysis reports that despite the hit to their pockets as a result of the war, most of Russia’s ultra-wealthy have kept quiet about the conflict or offered token criticism.

It points to banking and brewing entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov as a rare exception. He denounced the war and called those who support it "morons". He left the country in late 2022 and later renounced his citizenship.

Analyst Alexandra Prokopenko has written previously: "Even as the elites grumble, they continue to show loyalty."

She and others have suggested Putin wants to create a new cadre of hugely wealthy figures beholden to him.

He reportedly wants to do so by distributing assets Russia seized from foreign companies exiting the country and by invalidating privatisations carried out in the 1990s.

Analyst Nikolai Petrov of the Royal Institute of International Affairs wrote Russia is engaged in deprivatisation aimed at redistributing wealth to a new generation of "less-powerful individuals" in a bid to shore up Putin's own position.