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WEKU
WEKU
Charles Maynes

'Golden billion,' Putin's favorite conspiracy, explains his worldview and strategy

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen set at Red Square in Moscow on Sept. 30, as he addresses a rally marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops: Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

MOSCOW — As the war in Ukraine approaches the nine-month mark, Western governments have repeatedly accused Russia of imperialist expansionism, nuclear blackmail, weaponizing food, energy and winter — and a host of other hostilities that put the welfare of millions at risk.

Yet there's an increasingly common counternarrative in Moscow that argues it is the West instead that intends to subject the masses to misery.

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