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.

This is the oligarchy that American technocrats want to recreate at home. Owning things is dependent on being alive. Maybe paying a couple percent extra on taxes is worth it.

The states that imposed these Draconian laws have terrible maternal mortality rates now and they’re trying to hide the data so they don’t have to acknowledge the harm they did. Same way it was during COVID where some state governments like Florida were attacking independent investigators for having accurate numbers when the state changed theirs to try and look better.