Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin wants to avoid mobilising his own population as presidential elections loom.
Even those in the junior ranks are now earning more than twice the average workers' salary.
Experts have been theorising about Wagner chief's alleged demise and why it may have happened.
There was no overt celebration to mark 32 years of freedom from the Soviet Union.
A second of very public forgetfulness worked against the Russian president this week.
The Kremlin critic just posted his first video since his failed June coup.
The world's richest man considered switching off Ukraine's internet access.
“Putin is a d**khead and a thief," it read.
Including why Russia is having to "harvest kitchen freezers for low-grade chips".
The Kremlin wants to control the information available to ordinary people.