John Helmer has some interesting comments in this dialogue with Nima.
For me, among the most important was his analysis of the role of oligarchs in Russia, which I have written a lot about.
Most "analysts' in the West don't appear to understand much about the Russian oligarchs, who are different from oligarchs in other countries.
Their ethnocentricity generates confusion and contradiction.
One assumption which appears almost as frequently as the one that ascribes absolute power to Putin is that it is the Russian Oligarchs who actually call the shots in Moscow.
Of course, these two ideas are usually expressed separately -- except by politicians who like to put them together like ham and cheese.
For example, the 'murderous', all-powerful dictator Putin "invaded" Ukraine out of imperial ambition. So, how to counter that?
Sanctions, of course, which were supposed to damage the Russian economy and hurt the oligarchs' bottom line, not to mention their vacation plans abroad -- and cause them to "dump" Putin.
A few things to note....
First of all, Putin is not a dictator-- he is the elected President of his country with enormous popularity because he is honest and gets things done, improving life and well-being for ordinary people.
Putting such things aside, the Oligarchs cannot orchestrate a palace coup because:
If he wants an Oligarch gone, he's not going to have them murdered, as the Western Media suggest -- although a few of them have criminal connections or enemies with good reasons to order hits on them. Viz: Prigozhin.
Instead, Putin uses the law.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Mikhael Mirilashvili, for example, were both tried and convicted and sent to prison.
The West nonetheless sees Russia as it sees itself. And the CIA, MI6 and Mossad are very much in the assassination business.
The US too has "oligarchs" - but unlike Russian oligarchs, they are allowed to pervert the political system so the government works for them.
American oligarchs buy and sell everything, including Presidents.
In Russia, things are reversed.
Russian oligarchs were nomenklatura who were able to take control of state-owned assets in the post-Soviet era, in a manner that should have been illegal and maybe was, but permitted under Yeltsin. Privatisation benefited them, but they are not "free market" capitalists, rather they used economic chaos predatorily to expand their monopolies.
When Putin took power, the Oligarchs controlled significant parts of the economy and industry, with huge political influence in the regions - so he gave them choices - serve the state,obey the law, and stay out of politics.
He reversed privatisation per se in most sectors by as much as 90%. And he kept a careful eye on the regions and local government, which the West, of course, characterises as Tyranny.
As a result, some oligarchs fled the country, where they had bundles of money and palatial homes. Some went to prison. Most were unhappy with "Putinism".
Putin invited the oligarchs who stayed for Christmas dinner in the Kremlin. He is polite. But he does not have "cronies" as they are called in the West.
So Russia is capitalist, but it is state-managed capitalism, at least in major industrial areas. Sort of like China, ruled by another Dictator and another Oligarchy. Ordinary people hate the Oligarchs, who hate each other, which accounts for their high mortality rate.
For Putin, the oligarchs are a necessary evil, unfinished business from the collapse of the USSR - something he inherited like warts. He clearly wants their power to diminish.
Fortunately, the SVO has indeed NOT been good for the Oligarchs. And sanctions have prevented them from transferring assets out of the country for investment abroad. Poor, poor Oligarchs.