Featured Post from Aston University

Podcast: Russia expert discusses fears of Putin's 'madness' over Ukraine

Mar 14, 2022

4 min

Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl


  • Speculation that isolation caused by Covid-19 pandemic could have affected his state of mind
  • Closest advisers said to fear for their lives if they speak out against him
  • Potential scenarios considered include a ‘heart attack-style’ assassination of dictator by senior military and secret services.


Two years spent isolating during the coronavirus pandemic have led to a debate that Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone ‘bonkers’, resulting in the invasion of Ukraine.


There is now even speculation that only a “heart attack-style” assassination of the dictator by his senior military and secret services could prevent Putin from seeking to expand his borders even further.


These themes were discussed by Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl, a senior lecturer in sociology and policy at Aston University, and author of the award-winning book Rich Russians: From Oligarchs to Bourgeoisie.


Dr Schimpfössl, speaking about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the 'Society matters' podcast series, presented by journalist Steve Dyson, explained there were two reasons why Putin had decided to invade its neighbour.


She considered two potential reasons behind the invasion: “The first is he has always had ambitions to incorporate eastern Ukraine and, particularly, keep NATO at bay and not have it anywhere so close to Russia’s own borders. The second thought is whether Putin might have simply lost it, in a clinical sense.”


Dr Schimpfössl said Putin had been “extremely isolated” during the pandemic, with very few people allowed to see him in his “bunker”.


She added: “It might well be, as bizarre as it sounds and unimaginable as it might be, that he is losing it and courting advice from people who have such fear of him that they would say what he wanted to hear.”


While such madness is currently pure speculation, Dr Schimpfössl explained how people close to him would potentially “fear for their lives” if they contradicted him or alerted him to what a “crazy idea” war was. She said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose daughter lives in New York, had wanted to retire “years ago” but Putin would not let him.


And she mentioned claims that the former head of Russia’s foreign secret service died from an apparent heart attack after he “pretty much messed up” the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018.


She said: “It’s pretty obvious that similar fears were deep in the bones of all the closest entourage of Putin. They all know pretty well how the system works.”


Dr Schimpfössl described reports on how opposition activists and investigative journalists “suddenly, suspiciously, jump off their balcony to their death. And they threaten people that if they don’t jump then their family will suffer”.


She suggested that Russia’s billionaire oligarchs could have taken measures if they had seen what was coming. However, the European Union had now added oligarchs onto the sanctions list for the first time after being deeming them “Putin’s cronies” instead of business leaders.


Dr Schimpfössl said: “Until Friday, Putin’s plan was to succeed within maybe a week and sanctions would have become effective in weeks, or months from now. Now things have changed and the EU sanctions have gone a big step further on.”


She said it will be a “catastrophe” for Russia’s oligarchs now they are subject to sanctions. The only thing that could “save their skin”, she added, is if they create an image of being “anti-war, anti-Putin”. But would this help stop Putin?


“Not if he’s completely gone bonkers, then nothing will stop him,” Dr Schimpfössl again speculated. “It makes him extremely dangerous in terms of his announcement of using nuclear weapons. It would be the maddest possible thing to do, but there is no guarantee anymore.”


The only thing that could stop him, she hypothesised, was if Putin suffered the similar fate of a “sudden heart attack” following a “silent coup” by Russia’s top military and secret services, although it is pure conjecture that any such actions are being planned.


Opinion polls in Russia suggest that only 40 per cent of the population support the action against Ukraine, compared to 80 per cent over the annexation of Crimea in 2014.


Dr Schimpfössl said she hoped negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would lead to an agreement, but added: “We know from history when an aggressor sees itself being on the losing end, or things not go according to plan, they often lash out at the very last moment. Any escalation of the conflict could easily and very quickly get very cruel and barbaric.”


Episode 1 in series 3 of the ‘Society matters’ podcast and all previous episodes can be found HERE.

Connect with:
Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl

Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl

Senior Lecturer

Dr Schimpfössl's research interests are the sociology of elites as well as power and social inequality.

PhilanthropySocial InequalitySociologyElitesRussia

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from Aston University

2 min

Aston University researcher takes on leadership role within biomedical engineering

Dr Antonio Fratini is the new chair of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers Biomedical Engineering Division It is one of the largest group of professional biomedical engineers in the UK The specialism merges professional engineering with medical knowledge of the human body, such as artificial limbs and robotic surgery. An Aston University researcher has been given a leading role within the biomedical engineering sector. Dr Antonio Fratini CEng MIMechE has been elected as the new chair of the Biomedical Engineering Division (BmED) of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), one of the largest groups of professional biomedical engineers in the UK. The IMechE has around 115,000 members in 140 countries and has been active since 1847. Biomedical engineering, also known as medical engineering or bioengineering, is the integration of engineering with medical knowledge to help tackle clinical problems and improve healthcare outcomes. Dr Fratini previously served as chair of the Birmingham centre of the division for five years and as vice-chair of the division for one year. His research includes responsible use of AI, 3D segmentation and anatomical modelling to improve surgical training and planning, motor functions and balance rehabilitation. He leads Aston University’s Engineering for Health Research Centre within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and has vast experience in the design, development and testing of new medical devices. Currently he is the University’s principal investigator for the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator and he has a growing reputation in the UK and internationally within the biomedical engineering profession. He said: “Biomedical engineering is continuously evolving and our graduates will create the future of health tech and med tech for more effective, sustainable, responsible and personalised healthcare. “I am very honoured of this appointment. This three-year post will be a great opportunity to further develop the biomedical engineering profession worldwide and to show Aston University’s commitment to an inclusive, entrepreneurial and transformational impact within the field.” Professor Helen Meese, outgoing chair of the division, said: “I am delighted to see Antonio take on the chair’s position. He has, over the years, contributed significantly to the growth of the Birmingham regional centre and has actively supported me throughout my tenure as chair. I know how passionate he is about our profession and will undoubtedly continue to drive the division forward over the next three years.” Dr Frattini was presented with his new title on 20 June at the IMECHE HQ at 1 Birdcage Walk, London during the Institution’s technology strategy board meeting. For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Nicola Jones, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7825 342091 or email: n.jones6@aston.ac.uk

3 min

Aston University researcher develops method of making lengthy privacy notices easier to understand

It has been estimated it would take 76 days per year to fully read privacy notices New method makes notices quicker and easier to understand by converting them into machine-readable formats Team designed a JavaScript Object Notation schema which allowed them to validate, annotate, and manipulate documents. An Aston University researcher has suggested a more human-friendly way of reading websites’ long-winded privacy notices. A team led by Dr Vitor Jesus has developed a system of making them quicker and easier to understand by converting them into machine-readable formats. This technique could allow the browser to guide the user through the document with recommendations or highlights of key points. Providing privacy information is one of the key requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data protection Act but trawling through them can be a tedious manual process. In 2012, The Atlantic magazine estimated it would take 76 days per year to diligently read privacy notices. Privacy notices let people know what is being done with their data, how it will be kept safe if it’s shared with anyone else and what will happen to it when it’s no longer needed. However, the documents are written in non-computer, often legal language, so in the paper Feasibility of Structured, Machine-Readable Privacy Notices Dr Jesus and his team explored the feasibility of representing privacy notices in a machine-readable format. Dr Jesus said: “The notices are essential to keep the public informed and data controllers accountable, however they inherit a pragmatism that was designed for different contexts such as software licences or to meet the - perhaps not always necessary - verbose completeness of a legal contract. “And there are further challenges concerning updates to notices, another requirement by law, and these are often communicated off-band e.g., by email if a user account exists.” Between August and September 2022, the team examined the privacy notices of 50 of the UK’s most popular websites, from globally organisation such as google.com to UK sites such as john-lewis.com. They covered a number of areas such as online services, news and fashion to be representative. The researchers manually identified the notices’ apparent structure and noted commonly-themed sections, then designed a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) schema which allowed them to validate, annotate, and manipulate documents. After identifying an overall potential structure, they revisited each notice to convert them into a format that was machine readable but didn’t compromise both legal compliance and the rights of individuals. Although there has been previous work to tackle the same problem, the Aston University team focused primarily on automating the policies rather than data collection and processing. Dr Jesus, who is based at the University’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences said: “Our research paper offers a novel approach to the long-standing problem of the interface of humans and online privacy notices. “As literature and practice, and even art, for more than a decade have identified, privacy notices are nearly always ignored and ”accepted” with little thought, mostly because it is not practical nor user-friendly to depend on reading a long text simply to access, for example a news website. Nevertheless, privacy notices are a central element in our digital lives, often mandated by law, and with dire, often invisible, consequences.” The paper was published and won best paper at the International Conference on Behavioural and Social Computing, November 2023, now indexed at IEEE Xplore. The team are now examining if AI can be used to further speed up the process by providing recommendations to the user, based on past preferences.

2 min

Aston University optometrists take up global industry association roles

Professor Nicola Logan has been named a global myopia management ambassador by the World Council of Optometry Dr Debarun Dutta is the new academic chair of the British Contact Lens Association Aston University School of Optometry is ranked in the top 10 for research in the Complete University Guide 2024 Professor Nicola Logan and Dr Debarun Dutta from Aston University’s School of Optometry have both been appointed to major roles within optometry industry associations. The School of Optometry is regularly ranked highly by both leading national ranking publications and in annual student-led surveys. This includes a top 10 ranking for research and a top five ranking for graduate prospects in the Complete University Guide 2024, and first in the UK for student/staff ratio in health professions (optometry) in the Guardian University Guide 2024. Professor Logan, professor of optometry and physiological optics and deputy head of the School, has been named a global myopia management ambassador by the World Council of Optometry (WCO). She is one of four new ambassadors named by the WCO in collaboration with CooperVision, a leading myopia management company. WCO and CooperVision have developed a myopia management online tool which reflects WCO’s global standard of myopia care. In March 2024, Professor Logan presented her inaugural lecture at Aston University on her research into the nature of myopia, the growing evidence base on strategies to control eye growth in children and translation of these findings to clinical practice. She said about her appointment as an ambassador: “I am thrilled to be appointed as the global myopia management ambassador for the World Council of Optometry. This role provides me with a valuable platform to advance the recognition of myopia as a significant public health concern and to facilitate the translation of research into effective, evidence-based clinical practice strategies for children with myopia.” Dr Dutta, a lecturer in optometry, has been appointed the new academic chair of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA). He will lead the BCLA’s academic output, including offering guidance and advice to the BCLA council about scientific and academic elements of contact lenses. Dr Dutta will initially work alongside current academic chair, Professor James Wolffsohn, Aston University’s head of optometry, who is currently on sabbatical from the University, before taking over when Professor Wolffsohn steps down in 2025. Dr Dutta said: “I am hugely excited at the prospect of delivering academic provision of the British Contact Lens Association, with a specific focus on a highly prestigious conference programme as we grow our reputation as a global leader in contact lens and anterior eye education. This is a rare opportunity to work alongside our association members, fellows, trustees, global ambassadors and volunteers inspiring a new era for the BCLA, and to support our growth and development ambitions through delivery of educational activities within the contact lens and anterior eye specialism.”

View all posts
Powered by