India, Jan. 4 -- On the day Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February 2022, he summoned Russia's business elite to the Kremlin. The message was clear and unmistakable: the country was entering a new phase, and its richest citizens were expected to fall into line. Those present recall a tense scene, one describing the room as filled with billionaires who were "pale and sleep-deprived", fully aware that sanctions, war and international isolation were about to tear through their fortunes. Putin offered no room for debate: "I hope that in these new conditions, we'll work together just as well and no less effectively," he told them. Nearly four years on, that meeting looks like a turning point ...