In a statement released on Tuesday, the Kremlin said that Starovoit, 53, had taken his own life and that Putin was “shocked” by his death.

Starovoit is among a number of state officials and prominent businessmen who have died in mysterious circumstances since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Putin’s foes and critics have often met with violent deaths.

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[–] 14 points 1 year ago (1 child)

“Mysteriously” is doing a whole lot of heavy lifting in this title.

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  • [–] 39 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

    Hey US oligarchs, this is your future. You're not special and you are replaceable in the eyes of the government.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Right!? Who looks at this and thinks to themselves that they want to live in this kind of system?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    Bystander effect/Nash equilibrium. Unless they're ALL doing it, none of them want to be the ONLY sucker who's forgoing short-term profit opportunities for the benefit of all. This is what government is supposed to enforce on them: forcing them ALL to support democracy.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm not talking about the Russian oligarchs.

    I'm talking about the American oligarchs. If you are Elon musk or Peter thiel, how do you look at the Russian system and think that your circumstances will be improved by a lower tax rate, but which comes with the requirement that you are subject to the whims of a capricious psychopath?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Every incremental step along the way is immediately profitable. The thought process would be "Somebody will stop it from getting that far, and when THAT happens I'll support the anti-authoritarian movement, but UNTIL then, all the other oligarchs are profiting from these incremental steps towards authoritarianism, and when the anti-authoritarianism kicks in there'll be no further short-term profit opportunities to exploit so I don't wanna be the only one who didn't avail of them when they were available".

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    "Why pay living wages if competitors use slave labor?
    Why fund elections if rivals buy politicians?
    Why defend norms if fascists deregulate?" Defection becomes rational until the system implodes.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Waiting for that Russian gold mine guy who was just arrested to accidently fall out of a window

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    The war in Ukraine has devastated Russia's economy. The oligarchs don't think the war will be successful and Putin is aware of that. He's frightened and removing perceived threats.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I expected a much longer list. After a brief intro to the topic, they cover 6 people.
    OP stripped the title. It originally said "The minister, the general and the oil baron: All the mysterious deaths of Russian officials and businessmen", which makes more sense in light of the article's limited content.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    The article is about the list of Putin's inner circle since the beginning of the war in Ukraine (2 in just the last week).

    Starovoit is among a number of state officials and prominent businessmen who have died in mysterious circumstances since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Putin’s foes and critics have often met with violent deaths.

    I think most people know the number of individuals who have fallen out of windows would be a much bigger list. 6 very prominent individuals with direct links to Putin have been killed, just over the past week 2 more have been killed and several have been arrested. It seems like Putin is taking over any resources he needs and cleaning house in an attempt to defeat Ukraine.

    Also, that was the suggested auto title, and how it appears on the homepage of the news website.

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    [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Stop, collaborate and listen…

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    I will once again recommend the limited podcast series, Sad Oligarch. It's about the mysterious deaths in Russia.

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