Rinat Akhmetov, at first, was nobody. He was a brigadier and a gangster’. Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia of the DPR, explains how Akhmetov became an oligarch. According to him, after the collapse of the USSR, when businessmen divided the Soviet heritage, Rinat Akhmetov began to take over the plant’s assets: ‘First, Azovstal, Azovmash, [plant] Ilyich later. In principle, the entire Mariupol belonged to him’.

Azov did not just hide on Azovstal. According to Basurin, Akhmetov financed Azov and other national battalions. And now, the owner is demanding compensation for the damage caused by the destruction at the plant.

Who is Rinat Akhmetov, why did he finance Azov, and what fate do they see for Azovstal in the People’s Militia of the DPR? Eduard Basurin talks about this in our video. He is one of the subjects of our new documentary film about the liberation of Azovstal. Don’t miss the premiere.