Only Three Groups in Russia Benefiting from War and Both They and Amounts of Money Involved Smaller than Most Imagine, Researcher Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 28 – Only three groups have benefited from Putin’s war in Ukraine – soldiers and their families, workers in the military-industrial complex and business owners – but these groups are smaller and the amounts of money they’re receiving less than is commonly assumed, a researcher speaking on condition of anonymity says.
    As a result, the war has done little to change Russia from one of the most unequal countries in the developed world; and once it ends, he says, the situation may even get worse in that regard, forcing the government to change its approach or increase repression still further (meduza.io/en/feature/2025/01/28/the-end-of-the-war-will-herald-far-more-challenges-for-the-regime-than-the-war-itself).
    Some of Russia’s wealthiest people have indeed “gotten a lot richer” because they were able to divide “productive assets that were effectively abandoned by Western companies;” and that in turn allowed Putin to win their continued support. But presumably if the war ends, so too will that possibility.
    Among Russia’s more numerous and much poorer strata, even those who are benefiting are spending in ways that have only a small multiplier effect. And if peace comes, that will disappear. As a result, income inequality will become worse, and social discontent will emerge in Russia.
    As a result, the observer concludes, Russia “might actually become more repressive – have to become more repressive – if the war  ends or if the war continues, just as a way of keeping a handle on things,” hardly the outcome most other observers and activists are now talking about.