Haven’t they read the mess newspapers are in? More money than sense?

Either way, at this rate, perhaps Russia’s growing oligarch set could be a viable strategic alternative, for hard-pressed European papers, to the reality of industry change and economic malaise.

The latest - after last year buying France-Soir, the country’s smallest daily, for €50 million, shipbuilder’s son Alexander Pugachyov is now spending a further €20 million on a marketing campaign to take it mainstream. He’s upping the print run by 20 times, has halved the cover price and has more than doubled newsroom staff from 40 to 100.

Jealous? There’s no part of this that makes immediate sense. In fact, contrasted with the cutbacks, climbdowns and contraction many parts of the industry are seeing, it looks like madness.

But - aside from increasing France-Soir’s advertising-exposed readership in readiness for the ad upturn - it’s likely that 25-year-old, Monaco-raised Pugachyov is both operating a plaything on his way up the family business ranks and that his proprietorship plays some wider political significance. AP reports the French government may be about to buy four warships from Russia that would be built in Pugachyov Sr’s shipyard.

The Pugachyov scenario in France mirrors that of Alexander Lebedev in the UK, minus the warships. The former KGB agent took the London Evening Standard, whose circulation was falling, off DMGT’s hands for just a nominal fee, forewent cover-price income in favour of free distribution on a higher print run, and pledged a £25 million investment over three years.

“£25 million investment??” That’s unheard of in today’s news publishing economy. Is there some Trans-European pipeline we don’t know about that’s funneling all western newspapers’ lost profits direct to the trendy wine bars favoured by Moscow’s super-rich?

Now Lebedev’s set to repeat the act by buying The Independent. If his previous trick, and Pugachyov’s, are indication, then, far from taking the Indy online-only - as has been a common expectation over the last two years - Ledebev is likely to want to reinvigorate the printed edition and leave the web firmly a second-tier medium for now. This could be great news for an Indy whose circulation is slipping low despite successfully marking out its territory as a liberal viewspaper. A benefactor with pockets deep enough to take it free to a wider audience could be just the ticket, for the paper itself if not quit for Lebedev’s profit margin.

Maybe these guys would take a shine to the Shropshire Star, or the Neath Guardian? They can but hope.

Seen through each of these three lenses, Russia’s wealthiest men are saving journalism - paper by paper. They are the Abu Dhabi to publishing’s Manchester City, the Roman Abramovic to Chelsea. But other troubled publishers are struggling on with merely their Glazers and Gilletts.

So how long until we all start fluttering our eyelashes in Moscow’s direction?