Betsy McKay, Thomas Grove, & Rob Barry, "The Russian Billionaire Selling Putin’s War to the Public" https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-billionaire-selling-putins-war-ukraine-11669994410

« Yuri Kovalchuk, for decades a close friend of the Russian leader, shares Mr. Putin’s vision of Russia as a powerful military and cultural counterpoint to the U.S., people who know him say. The billionaire and Mr. Putin have met frequently since the start of the war in February, and also talk by phone or video, according to a friend of the Kovalchuk family as well as to a former Russian intelligence official.

Mr. Putin has long relied on an inner circle of trusted allies to run businesses in the most critical sectors of the Russian economy. Mr. Kovalchuk stands out both for his personal relationship with the president and for his role in shaping public opinion, according to financial and court documents and interviews with former intelligence officials and friends and associates of the billionaire. »