🇷🇺 PUTIN’S PRESSURE MACHINE RUNS ON SEIZURE, PROXIES AND DENIABILITY
Two days after Washington imposed new sanctions, Putin signed a decree taking control of Aptar Vladimir, a Russian subsidiary ultimately owned by US-based AptarGroup, and transferring it to a company headed by Yakub Zakriev, Ramzan Kadyrov’s nephew. Vanguard and BlackRock are among AptarGroup’s largest shareholders.
The same logic increasingly appears beyond Russia’s borders: keep the state one step removed.
European investigations have documented networks of disposable recruits allegedly directed by Russian intelligence for sabotage operations, while Germany has blamed Moscow for an explosive-laden drone discovered at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Russia denies involvement.
At the front, Ukraine is attacking the machinery sustaining that pressure. The 3rd Army Corps says it destroyed a pipeline from Voronezh that had supplied roughly 50% of Russian forces’ daily diesel needs in occupied Luhansk, forcing fuel trucks onto journeys of about 400 km.
And inside Russia, United Russia has just emerged from a tightly controlled parliamentary election with 355 of 450 Duma seats. Credible anti-Kremlin opposition was heavily restricted, while international observers were absent.
Different arenas, same recurring pattern: assets absorbed, intermediaries used abroad, military logistics stretched, political competition constrained at home.
The Kremlin can control a great deal.
What it cannot control indefinitely is the accumulating cost of all of it.
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— @WW3finalboss Sep 24, 2026
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