Wartime “Oligarch-Washing” by the West: Relations to Big Russian Wealth Gone Toxic

This article inspects the changing relations towards Russian oligarchs in the West. The focus is on how those with vested interests in Russian oligarch money handled the first turbulent weeks of Putin’s war in Ukraine and the major developments since. The analysis builds upon data gathered in real time. The initial responses to the war were chaotic and panic-driven. Russian oligarchs were dropped overnight. Art museums dispensed with their long-term trustees, Western governments passed targeted sanctions, and eventually the corporate world joined in too. These various processes were spontaneous and out of sync with one another. Yet this article argues that certain patterns nevertheless crystalized. Oligarch-washing served as an analytical frame to make sense of these dynamics. The concept it evolved into is put forward for discussion here.