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How Commodity Speculators Drove War in Ukraine

By: Rupert Russell

In London and New York, the spectacularly wealthy gamble on the price of commodities — and, in the process, provide petrostate autocrats like Vladimir Putin with the resources to wage war.

A frozen oil pump. (Sergei Dubrovskii / Getty Images)

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In a restaurant basement, a military commander sat on a cowhide chair and puffed on a tiny white e-cigarette. Above his head was a purple chandelier, and above the restaurant basement was the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The state’s Russian allies sat on the eastern border, while a few miles to the west lay trenches […]

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In a restaurant basement, a military commander sat on a cowhide chair and puffed on a tiny white e-cigarette. Above his head was a purple chandelier, and above the restaurant basement was the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The state’s Russian allies sat on the eastern border, while a few miles to the west lay trenches […]

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In a restaurant basement, a military commander sat on a cowhide chair and puffed on a tiny white e-cigarette. Above his head was a purple chandelier, and above the restaurant basement was the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The state’s Russian allies sat on the eastern border, while a few miles to the west lay trenches […]

In a restaurant basement, a military commander sat on a cowhide chair and puffed on a tiny white e-cigarette. Above his head was a purple chandelier, and above the restaurant basement was the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The state’s Russian allies sat on the eastern border, while a few miles to the west lay trenches […]

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