What are the ripple effects of sanctioning Russia's richest and most powerful?

What are the ripple¹ effects of sanctioning Russia's richest and most powerful?

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Alex Finley, a former CIA officer and novelist who's tracking super-yachts used by oligarchs, about what sanctions against Russia mean for the country's super-rich.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Western sanctions on his country have failed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Non-English language spoken).

FADEL: That's the Russian leader speaking in a televised video call with top economic officials yesterday, where he claimed that sanctions backfired and instead are causing a, quote, "deterioration³ of Western economies." But the Russian central bank is warning that the full effects of the West's pressure campaign have not been felt yet. Many of those sanctions are focused on the wealth of Russia's powerful oligarchs. By some assessments⁴, they've cost these ultra-rich and powerful elites⁵ billions of dollars so far. To learn more, we're going to speak to Alex Finley. She's a former officer with the CIA's Directorate of Operations and lives in Barcelona near the port where large private yachts are docked. Some of them belong to Russian oligarchs. Good morning, Alex.

ALEX FINLEY: Good morning.

FADEL: Thanks for being on the program.

FINLEY: Thank you for having me.

FADEL: So we've heard a lot about sanctioning oligarchs since the start of the war on Ukraine. Help give us a sense of their influence in Russia and how these rich and powerful citizens connect to Putin and the war.

FINLEY: Well, I think, contrary to what President Putin is saying there, my guess is these sanctions actually are having some sort of an influence there. The fact that he even denied it makes me think that. And just yesterday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that he thinks that Russia is marching towards bankruptcy⁶. So I think these are having an effect. And part of the reason is because we - through these sanctions, what we are trying to do is to destabilize this system of corruption⁸ that Putin has set up. And the people closest to him and who have the most access to him for years now have been benefiting from a very corrupt⁷ system, but it was stable.

And Putin is what made it stable. He allowed everybody to sort of steal out of Russia as long as they supported him. And now those very same people, by being sanctioned, by not having access to their bank accounts and their villas¹⁰ and their yachts, there's a little bit of destabilization there. They're wondering what they're getting out of this relationship anymore. And so what we hope, then, is that there will be some pressure internally in Russia to maybe force Putin's hand or maybe create such instability that Putin gets taken out of office.

FADEL: Have there been any signs that there's been an impact on the relationship between the oligarchs and the Kremlin?

FINLEY: I don't think anybody actually knows right now what's going on inside the Kremlin. Putin has been more and more isolated¹¹. COVID isolated him even more. And now with the war, he's even more isolated. So very few people, I think, have access to him. We do have some indications that some of these oligarchs have met with him. When the invasion first began, he called a number of them back. So they have had some access to him. But I think it would be very difficult to really say what we think is happening inside the Kremlin at the moment.

FADEL: You talked about this corrupt system. And some of that corrupt system involves operating in the West, right? But it's - so it's not as simple as sanction the rich and powerful and pressure Russia to get in line with the West. There are ripple effects that play out when you sanction these really wealthy people.

FINLEY: Correct. Part of what the oligarchs, particularly, have done, because they've been integral to Putin's efforts to destabilize the West - and that includes interfering¹² in Western elections, trying to buy influence over Western politicians. The oligarchs have really played a key role in that. And part of what they have done is brought that corrupt system into our own system. So they use our rule of law. They use our bank systems. They use our real estate to park their money, to launder¹³ their money and to buy influence. Some of these people are very well-known with high-level politicians throughout Europe and the United States. They have access to people who have influence over policymakers. And that's part of what they did.

On top of that, the services that go to help these oligarchs - if you look at London, for example, they - there's some places they call Londongrad. There's so much Russian money going through it. And there are a number of services that are there simply to serve these oligarchs as they buy their real estate, as they buy their yachts, as they put their money through the Western system. And so we, ourselves, make money from them bringing that dirty money to us. And so in many ways, it's in our hands to try to stop this corruption. It's up to us to put an end to this.

FADEL: But it could be painful, it sounds like. I mean, there will be loss of money and jobs.

FINLEY: There will be. And I really think that part of why Putin decided¹⁴ to launch this invasion when he did was because he really thought he had divided the West enough with his destabilization efforts. I think he really thought he had bought enough influence with enough politicians that we would not be able to unify¹⁵ ourselves and to say, OK, we're ready to make the sacrifices that we need to stop this. And we did see it. And we still see it across Europe, for example. The Italians were a little bit nervous to block luxury goods, for example, in the sanctions because they make a lot of money from that. Germany was very slow in terms of the oil and gas because they had this Nord Stream 2. And so being able to unify the West and bring everybody together and say, this is more important - there is no villa⁹ in Antibes, there is no gas line, there is nothing that is worth more than democracy. So we need to stay unified¹⁶.

FADEL: Really quickly, before we let you go, you mentioned yachts. Western authorities are seizing flashy yachts. On your Twitter feed, you track these seizures¹⁷. What's the significance of these yachts?

FINLEY: For me, the yachts are very much this symbol of this extravagance. They're something visually that we can capture, we can see and we can imagine. And they're just so extravagant¹⁸ and opulent. These yachts are $600 million. One of Abramovich's yachts is rumored¹⁹, after refit, to be worth $1 billion. And you just see the corruption and the inequality, that so much money is in so few hands. And that is so much of what brings this corruption to our system and causes problems.

FADEL: Alex Finley is a former CIA officer and yacht watcher under the Twitter hashtag #YachtWatch. Thank you so much for your time.

FINLEY: Thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF PSALM TREES, MOOSE DAWA AND ANDRAS SZILAGYI'S "NO LIES")

1 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

4 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

5 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

7 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

10 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

11 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

12 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

13 launder   

v.洗涤；洗黑钱（把来路可疑的钱弄得似乎合法）

参考例句：

• She wore a freshly laundered and starched white shirt.她穿一件刚刚浆洗熨烫过的白色衬衣。
• The gang launders the steal money through their chain of restaurants.这帮匪徒通过他们的连锁饭店洗赃款。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

16 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

17 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

18 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

19 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句