Deeply satisfying it may be to see yachts, palaces and other assets belonging to the Russian super-rich being seized in Europe and the US. But this will not necessarily do serious or terminal damage to Vladimir Putin’s regime because, just as the power of the oligarchs used to be underestimated, it is now often exaggerated. Ever since Putin took power more than 20 years ago, it is the siloviki – the “people of force” or “strongmen” – drawn like Putin from the old KGB – who have controlled the Russian state. More

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