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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDocuments Reveal Erik Prince's $10 Billion Plan to Make Weapons and Create a Private Army in Ukraine
Link to tweet
https://time.com/6076035/erik-prince-ukraine-private-army/
On the second night of his visit to Kyiv, Erik Prince had a dinner date on his agenda. A few of his Ukrainian associates had arranged to meet the American billionaire at the Vodka Grill that evening, Feb. 23, 2020. The choice of venue seemed unusual. The Vodka Grill, a since-defunct nightclub next to a KFC franchise in a rough part of town, rarely saw patrons as powerful as Prince.
As the party got seated inside a private karaoke room on the second floor, Igor Novikov, who was then a top adviser to Ukraines President, remembers feeling a little nervous. He had done some reading about Blackwater, the private military company Prince had founded in 1997, and he knew about the massacre its troops had perpetrated during the U.S. war in Iraq. Coming face to face that night with the worlds most prominent soldier of fortune, Novikov remembers thinking: What does this guy want from us?
It soon became clear that Prince wanted a lot from Ukraine. According to interviews with close associates and confidential documents detailing his ambitions, Prince hoped to hire Ukraines combat veterans into a private military company. Prince also wanted a big piece of Ukraines military-industrial complex, including factories that make engines for fighter jets and helicopters. His full plan, dated June 2020 and obtained exclusively by TIME this spring, includes a roadmap for the creation of a vertically integrated aviation defense consortium that could bring $10 billion in revenues and investment.
The audacity of the proposal fit with Princes record as a businessman. For nearly a quarter century, the former Navy SEAL has been a pioneer in the private military industry, raising armies in the Middle East and Africa, training commandos at his base in North Carolina and deploying security forces around the world for the State Department and the CIA. Under the Trump Administration, Princes familya powerful clan of right-wing Republican donors from Michigansaw their influence rise. Princes sister, Betsy DeVos, was appointed Secretary of Education, while Prince himself leveraged contacts in the White House to chase major deals around the world.
*snip*
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Documents Reveal Erik Prince's $10 Billion Plan to Make Weapons and Create a Private Army in Ukraine (Original Post)
Nevilledog
Jul 2021
OP
2nd billion. He got his first billion by being a Quadruple Triple Diamond status Amway Distributor.
marble falls
Jul 2021
#6
There's just some things bloodthirsty psychopaths just will not do. Then, there's Eric Prince.
marble falls
Jul 2021
#10
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)1. Brother of Cruella DeVos
lame54
(35,328 posts)2. Cheney gave him his first billion
marble falls
(57,338 posts)6. 2nd billion. He got his first billion by being a Quadruple Triple Diamond status Amway Distributor.
lame54
(35,328 posts)8. He's more evil than I thought
marble falls
(57,338 posts)10. There's just some things bloodthirsty psychopaths just will not do. Then, there's Eric Prince.
multigraincracker
(32,730 posts)3. Arms the
Amway way.
wryter2000
(46,083 posts)4. But, but, but
Hunter Biden's laptop.
marble falls
(57,338 posts)5. Prince Eric the Merciless calls his minnions to Ukraine ...
I think I see who stole my stolen Mercedes hood ornament from offa my Schwinn.
JCMach1
(27,575 posts)7. This guy has hidden billions. He has been busy helping KSA and UAE keep the Civil War in Libya going
Jilly_in_VA
(10,008 posts)9. Why
is this evil a$$hole still running around loose?