Russia's Dark Power Struggle: Putin's Corrupt Empire at a Breaking Point

Key Facts:

Russia’s top officials closely monitored the U.S. election, viewing its outcome as pivotal to Russian power dynamics and even Putin’s succession plans.
Putin’s Russia has become a “gangster capitalism” state where wealth and power are intertwined, and oligarchs are officials themselves, requiring no bribes—only loyalty to the Kremlin.
Power struggles within the Kremlin have led to deadly purges since the Ukraine invasion, with officials tied to Putin mysteriously vanishing or dying.

U.S. Election Results

As Russia watched the recent U.S. presidential election unfold, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for the Kremlin. The election’s outcome may shape Russia’s internal power dynamics and heavily influence Putin’s succession plans, prompting close monitoring at the highest levels. To late Putin’s inner circle, Donald Trump represents a figure of stability and a discreet ally. Russian officials already plan to reach out to the incoming U.S. administration through informal channels.

Gangster Capitalism

Behind this tense diplomacy lies a Russia ensnared in a web of corruption, cronyism, and iron-fisted control. Under Putin, the state has morphed into a realm of “gangster capitalism,” where wealth and power are fused inextricably. Observers worldwide describe a system so deeply entrenched in corruption that the term feels almost inadequate. In Putin’s Russia, the oligarchs are the officials—no bribes required, only unwavering loyalty to the Kremlin. They stand shielded by power, enforcing control at any cost, and thriving as enforcers and benefactors of the state.

Deadly Power Struggles

Since the invasion of Ukraine, internal power struggles have escalated into deadly purges. In the shadows of Russia’s elite circles, a chilling message has emerged: dissent is a death sentence. Oligarchs and officials tied to Putin’s regime are vanishing or meeting violent, inexplicable ends, dismissed as “accidents” by Kremlin spokespeople. With an economy in tatters and a military drained by the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin’s so-called “war on corruption” has become a pretext for powerful factions to eliminate rivals in their scramble for limited resources. For some, this war is not about national pride but personal power, with elites viewing Ukraine’s tragedy as an opportunity to consolidate their grip—even if it means sacrificing their peers.

Geopolitical Greatness

Meanwhile, ordinary Russians are abandoned in the pursuit of “geopolitical greatness” and the hollow myth of a “greater Russia.” From Dagestan’s remote villages to Moscow’s bustling streets, civilians bear the weight of elites’ ambitions. Putin’s loyal Chekist operatives, once shadowy KGB agents, now revel in luxury: Italian suits, chauffeur-driven Maybachs, and lives far removed from Russia’s everyday struggles. The few “new bloods” daring to disrupt this hegemony are thwarted in a game rigged from the start, where billionaires battle millionaires under Putin’s approving gaze.

Authoritarian Control

Far from the glimmer of hope, Russia’s so-called modernization is a grim power grab, an authoritarian clampdown guised as reform. The Kremlin’s chosen model—a “Chekist” style authoritarian kleptocracy—tightens control over Russia’s finances without addressing its urgent economic and social crises. Factions vie for control over dwindling wealth, yet none show the slightest interest in easing Russian poverty or ending the suffering of a nation weary from war and hardship.

Kremlin Propaganda

As the Kremlin manipulates elections and crafts propaganda in Soviet-era style, a shadowy illusion of stability persists. But outside the Kremlin walls, Russia tells a starkly different story: a land betrayed by its leaders, drained of resources, and locked in a war of personal vendettas. The people pay the ultimate price, as a broken state squanders its future in a ruthless quest for power.