A Billionaire's Brigade joins the fray in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has found a billionaire ally in home turf: Vsevolod Kozhemyako. Kozhemyako is the founder of the Agrotrade Group, one of Ukraine's largest agricultural companies focused on grain exports.

"I am a businessman... and now I am the commander of a military unit in Ukraine," Kozhemyako told NPR. Kozhemyako has built up his own fighting unit, a move that has earned him respect in the country as other businessmen chose to flee Ukraine after the war broke out.

(Photo: @sevakozhemyako)

Kozhemyako's business is in jeopardy because his grain carriers are being blocked by Russian forces in the Black Sea after Moscow's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen has accused the Russian president of using "hunger and grain" as a weapon of war. Von der Leyen also said that Russia was deliberately bombing grain warehouses across Ukraine, EuroNews reports.

Kozhemyako then decided to set up Khartia, a volunteer paramilitary battalion drawing from residents of his city, Kharkiv. Known as the "Billionaire's Brigade", the businessman-turned-war hero has recruited and trained more than 5,000 soldiers who have fought some of the most decisive battles of the war, according to El País.

Ukraine's national army gives orders to all units, including the Billionaire's Battalion although Kozhemyako's unit operates independently.

According to Forbes magazine, the director of Agrotrade is worth $100 million and his companies together manage tens of thousands of acres of farmland in Ukraine and a staff of 1,500 .

Photo: Unsplash / Wende

The Billionaire's Battalion provides each volunteer with an AK-47 rifle, a bulletproof vest and a helmet. The volunteers are then trained by former soldiers before they are allowed access to vehicles, heavy weapons and drones, according to the 20 Minutes news site.

“International banks [that work with Agrotrade] ask me if what I do is legal, and I explain to them that yes, there is an emergency law in Ukraine that allows civilians to fight,” Kozhemyako told El País.

The Ukrainian businessman is known to be partial to expensive suits and has a passion for travel. He also runs bikes and golfs. It is a luxurious lifestyle, with holidays in  Switzerland and Austria not to mention yachting escapades – a far cry from his current day to day on the battlefield.

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