Oleg Deripaska is in the news again, as he occasionally tends to be. Deripaska is a Russian billionaire who is intimately tied to the Kremlin’s corrupt and autocratic regime. Think of a villain in a James Bond movie—a wealthy, impeccably dressed and monstrous gangster with a huge yacht and an annoying grin that Bond will surely address.
According to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Deripaska has “acted as a proxy for the Russian state and intelligence services” since at least 2004. Deripaska’s name appears a whopping 340 times in the Senate report, not including the vast multitude of parts that are censored for intelligence reasons.
“Deripaska has managed and financed Kremlin-approved and -directed active measures campaigns, including information operations and election interference efforts.” He “conducts influence operations” outside of Russia. He has worked tirelessly “to install pro-Kremlin regimes” and—pay attention to this part—“to control local economies and politicians” in nations all over the world. And don’t kid yourself: Our government is most definitely among the governments that Russia’s regime seeks to control.
Read More The Daily Beast Latest Articles