Entrance to Russian Political Elite will Now Pass Through Service in Ukraine, Minchenko Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 21 – The Presidential Administration has tried various means to come up with what it calls a cadres reserve, a group of people who are being trained to become part of the Russian political elite in the future. But Yevgeny Minchenko says that since the start of the war in Ukraine, all who have such aspirations must work at some point in the Donbass.

            Speaking to a meeting of political analysts devoted to the discussion of his own ideas about the emergence of a “Politburo 2.0,” the Moscow consulting company head argued that today, “all careers will now pass through the Donbass” in the broad sense of the word which will include all Russian-administered parts of present-day Ukraine (business-gazeta.ru/article/560803).

            An enormous number of officials have attracted attention because of their roles in Ukraine. They will want “their pieces of the pie,” and they may even emerge as a kind of unified political group that will challenge others, Minchenko says. They are certainly numerous enough and already powerful enough to make that assumption.

            The organizational theorist adds that he is “certain” that Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov will rise in status, not only because of his actions in Ukraine but because of the symbolism of his shift from a fighter against Russia into a fighter for Russia and because of his links with the Islamic world.

            Indeed, Minchenko says, “Kadyrov is the only one of the regional leaders who remains a candidate member of the Politburo in its current version.” Tatarstan’s Rustam Minnikhanov has fallen off the list, but that isn’t the end of the story as far as he is concerned. If he becomes more active with the Muslim world, he too may return to that status.