5:59 v originále: Russian elites are worried, says Catherine Belton

Europe and the United States debate how to make Russia pay at least part of the damage it caused Ukraine by its military invasion. Some voices in the EU call for seizing frozen Russian foreign exchange reserves and using it later to cover the costs of rebuilding Ukraine.

Moreover, the White House came up with a similar plan which would allow the US government to seize palaces and yachts owned by the richest and most powerful Russians connected to Putin's regime, sell them and use the proceeds to help fund Ukraine's defense.

The war seems to have put a wedge in the relationship between Russian oligarchs and the Kremlin.

„It looks like these cracks are emerging and they're becoming more and more evident. In fact, we see some of the senior economic officials making very public statements, warning that the full impact of sanctions is yet to be felt,“ says Catherine Belton, Russia correspondent for the Washington Post.

As she adds, for example a chairwoman of the central bank Elvira Nabiullina claims „that the economy is basically running on borrowed time“.

Can further pressure break the system created by Vladimir Putin and used by both sides to thrive?Listen to the whole interview via the audioplayer which you can find at the beginning of the article. (Český překlad rozhovoru najdete v článku Ruští oligarchové začínají mluvit. Anonymně, bojí se odplaty.)