power in the west. Putin's pals are just one part of a larger plan to use political powers to insulate the Ultra rich from any governmental interference. Russian backing of the Brexit/Tory madness is a visible example. Their involvement with the GOP and Trump is another. Netanyahu is the Trump equivalent in Israel. The clique surrounding MBS in Saudi Arabia is another set of them. They align along Oil and other extraction wealth and plan on consuming as much of the earth as they wish so long as THEY are the beneficiaries. What they most earnestly wish is to mute any objection by citizens or governments to that plan.