They Are a Rare Breed of Disgusting, and All We Can Do Is Hope

Russia's entitled class deserves the worst that humans can imagine.

Courtesy of CNN

Let’s meet the ex-wife of the recently-detained Russian deputy defense minister, Timur Ivanov. They divorced at the start of the war to shield her from Western sanctions, yet they still share a lavish penthouse in Moscow. Here, she is seen in Courchevel, France, a playground for Russia’s elite, spending what can only be described as ‘blood money. ‘This is the face of the entitled class, shamelessly flaunting their ill-gotten wealth.

Svetlana loves to shop. She was seen shortly after the reconstruction of the Ukrainian city Mariupol commenced in a Parisian jewelry shop. She spent during that afternoon visit 100,000 euros on an assortment of things. Svetlana is seen all over the world. Yachting in the Mediterranean, skiing in the Alps, and dropping some pocket change in Paris. Her husband, Timur, had one of the most profitable jobs in Russia. He was responsible for overseeing the “reconstruction” projects in cities and countries where Russia’s military had ruthlessly bombed. Ivanov did little to conceal his wealth in Moscow; only a too-trusting foreigner would ever believe he wasn’t stealing money.

Tens of billions of dollars have gone through Ivanov’s hands — maybe more. For years, he was untouchable because that money was being divvied up with all who required their fair share. The assumption is that Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, was also on the receiving list from Ivanov. One does not get put in charge of money if one is not trustworthy and corruptible.

In Russia, honest top managers and ministers are rare because they are considered unnecessary. If a minister is not corruptible, he may one day shine a light on the leader’s corruption — “What the problem, Sergei, are you too good to steal a little bit of money? Are you passing judgment on us?” That mentality is present everywhere in Russia, resulting in my abrupt dismissal from Russian companies over the years when I refused to siphon off money from company budgets. Unsiphoned cash is considered a missed opportunity — “Silly do-gooder.”

This is how Russia’s elite class regards the country’s wealth. This is how they believe in money, which they rarely earn but acquire. It is not a stretch to say that the higher up a person is in Russia, the more grotesque they are in terms of humanity, morals, and empathy. If you zero in on that face in the image above (don’t look past her hundred-thousand euro fur get-up), you will see a woman who might even regard every death of an innocent Ukrainian as a future shopping spree in Paris or Rome. The longer the war of genocide goes on in Ukraine, the more she is guaranteed, thanks to her husband’s corruption.

If you ask this woman and the thousands of elite demons still traveling around the world thanks to all sorts of loopholes, she will tell you that the war is a good thing — for her it is, it is a great thing! 

I have spent hundreds of evenings at dinner tables with Russia’s elite. I have drunk to the point where everyone is in tears and hugging countless times with these elites, some who are now approaching billionaire levels and some who are dead, and I can tell you that when I return to my hotel or home, I feel the need to scour my soul. The uneasy feeling of having been morally raped by their snarkiness, by their hatred of anyone with less money, by their disgust for simple, rural Russians — many of them actually happen to have escaped rural Russia themselves —has left me on countless mornings with a hangover and one question echoing through my head: Why am I wasting my life on this God-forsaken people?

I rejoice that Timur Ivanov has been arrested, but we can’t kid ourselves and think that maybe some changes are being made. Hell no! Ivanov got greedy, and now he is paying for it. There is a chance that Putin has decided to replace Shoigu, and this is his opening gambit — The Putin Gambit. Maybe he is preparing his knight for a sweeping movement, two spaces forward and one left to capture Shoigu. We can’t know yet. All we can know is that Ivanov wants to sing like a canary but also fears that his loose lips will suddenly result in an “undiagnosed heart condition” that will leave poor, vile, despicable Svetlana a widow.

When Ivanov is killed, the pretty and grotesque Svetlana will flutter her long, fake eyelashes, and in the way only a beautiful Russian woman can, she will muster up tears mixed with sobs that will have the whole world pitying her — even maybe sending her donations to help her eat and pay the rent.

Shamelessly, Svetlana, like the hordes of the soul-less and depraved elite of Russia, will milk our kindness for every drop until Putin readmits her into the herd. Then, again in Moscow and dining on thousand-euro plates of foie gras, she will mock us, her late husband, and praise Russia’s war of genocide. 

Remember: Each murdered Ukrainian means more money for Russia’s elite.