NV.UA, citing Russian service of the BBC, has reported that supporters of Chechen warlord Mr Ramzan Kadyrov's entourage who fought in Ukraine have begun to receive assets in the occupied Ukrainian cities. A BBC investigation found that in late January Chechen businessman Mr Valid Korchagin became a co owner of the Ilyich Iron & Steel Works, which is registered in the self-proclaimed DPR, the sham republic the Kremlin set up in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast in 2014. Mr Yuriy Muray, a resident of occupied Makiyivka, is listed as the head of the company According to the BBC, Mr Korchagin is connected to the family of Senator Mr Suleiman Geremeyev, an ally of Mr Kadyrov. The BBC believes that the company may start restoring the steel plant in war-torn Mariupol, which is legally owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mr Rinat Akhmetov's Metinvest group. Founded in 1897, Ilyich Iron & Steel Works was the second largest metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, after Kryvorizhstal and is located in Mariupol. It produces hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, including for shipbuilding, oil pipeline, boring gas pipeline and water pipes. In March 2022, the plant was severely damaged during the Siege of Mariupol during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces stormed the plant on 13 April 2022.
NV.UA, citing Russian service of the BBC, has reported that supporters of Chechen warlord Mr Ramzan Kadyrov's entourage who fought in Ukraine have begun to receive assets in the occupied Ukrainian cities. A BBC investigation found that in late January Chechen businessman Mr Valid Korchagin became a co owner of the Ilyich Iron & Steel Works, which is registered in the self-proclaimed DPR, the sham republic the Kremlin set up in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast in 2014. Mr Yuriy Muray, a resident of occupied Makiyivka, is listed as the head of the company According to the BBC, Mr Korchagin is connected to the family of Senator Mr Suleiman Geremeyev, an ally of Mr Kadyrov. The BBC believes that the company may start restoring the steel plant in war-torn Mariupol, which is legally owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mr Rinat Akhmetov's Metinvest group. Founded in 1897, Ilyich Iron & Steel Works was the second largest metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, after Kryvorizhstal and is located in Mariupol. It produces hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, including for shipbuilding, oil pipeline, boring gas pipeline and water pipes. In March 2022, the plant was severely damaged during the Siege of Mariupol during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces stormed the plant on 13 April 2022.
