He is now subject to a travel ban, so his Israeli and Portuguese passports won’t get him in

Question wasn't directed at me, but I'll try to answer.

After the demise of the Soviet Union (initially under Yeltsin) virtually all the Russian state assets (mainly natural resources - oil, gas, infrastructure like telecoms, banking, etc.) were plundered by what became the first generation of oligarchs. "Plundered" as in given away (or sold off, as you prefer) by the state to a coterie of friendly influencers in exchange for favour.

After Putin took over, he demanded fealty from the oligarchs if they wanted to maintain their status/wealth. Some opposed him and were summarily dealt with (nb: Salisbury) or stripped of their wealth and exiled/imprisoned. Others continued to blow him, in order to maintain their wealth (eg: Abramovich). So the present generation of oligarchs are essentially Putin's puppets.

There are two salient facts for the sanctions: 1. That wealth actually belongs to the Russian people, from whom it was stolen and to whom it should be returned (would you be happy if Boris gave all the right to North Sea Oil to Mike Ashley and said "cash in and enrich yourself, bro"?), and 2. The present generation of oligarchs jumps when Putin says jump. It's ludicrous to presume they're not propping up his regime financially, and most likely directly or indirectly funding his wars. Thus, by stripping the oligarchs of their assets, money which to all intents and purposes is directly at Putin's disposal, his ability to prosecute the war against Ukraine is greatly diminished.

The fact that Chelsea is a football club and therefore higher profile than some of the other frozen assets is neither here nor there. Chelsea is simply a business caught in the crossfire of a just and sensible sanctioning policy. If the warmaker has his ability to buy weapons and therefore to continue the war curtailed, and if the result of his war-making is the destruction of his own country's economy as a result of the sanctions then it stands to reason that sooner or later the war will end because his own people, and hopefully the oligarchs themselves, will turn against him.

All of this very much helps Ukraine. Right now, the sanctions are probably the best chance of peace they've got.

Edited by sydtheeagle (12 Mar 2022 4.19pm)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

Thank you for that lucid explanation.

However, will the oligarchs turn against Putin? ... of course not they have too much to lose and will Chelski go out of business? ... I very much doubt it as they are part of a competitive Premier League dripping with money because of teams like them.

Putin currently sits on top of a very strong power base but as we've seen before, the ultimate power lies with the Russian people. They will have to ignore the bulls*** they are fed and overcome the bullying by his thugs. I hope it's sooner rather than later but it clearly is the longterm solution.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt

Easier said than done as PooTin now controls all of the media and it seems that most Russians believe that they are seeing and hearing the truth on the state controlled media

AB should ever have been allowed to plough millions into Chelsea in the first place I agree with. Doing it now is no bad thing for whatever reason.

Chelsea are not going to be put out of business so need to get upset. They just won’t be buying titles if the new owner will not bankroll hundreds of millions of pounds in losses every year, and that’s with FFP being broken. Something Man City manage to cheat and I’m sure Newcastle will to keep the premier league bosses rich.

COYP

Sanctions like this are just ridiculous, do nothing for the people of Ukraine, and could not possibly have any affect on Russia.