Rich and voiceless: How Putin has kept Russia's billionaires on side in the war

Western sanctions have failed to turn the uber-rich into opponents, and Putin's policies have turned them into silent backers.

Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationWatch DocumentariesTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthWatch DocumentariesNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveRich and voiceless: How Putin has kept Russia's billionaires on side in the war14 hours agoShareSaveVitaly ShevchenkoBBC Monitoring Russia editorShareSaveALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFPPutin summoned business leaders to the Kremlin on the day he ordered the full-scale invasion of UkraineDuring the war with Ukraine, the number of billionaires in Russia has reached an all-time high. But in the 25 years Vladimir Putin has been in power, Russia's rich and powerful - known as oligarchs - have lost almost all their political influence.

All this is good news for the Russian president. Western sanctions have failed to turn the uber-rich into his opponents, and his carrot-and-stick policies have turned them into silent backers.

Former banking billionaire Oleg Tinkov knows exactly how the sticks work.

The day after he criticised the war as "crazy" in an Instagram post, his executives were contacted by the Kremlin. They were told his Tinkoff Bank, Russia's second-largest at the time, would be nationalised unless all ties to its founder were cut.

"I couldn't discuss the price," Tinkov told the New York Times. "It was like a hostage - you take what you are offered. I couldn't negotiate."