Exclusive: Sources Say Oligarch Funded Scheme to Paint Swastikas in Ukraine
Source: Rolling Stone
In the months before Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, an oligarch with Russian ties allegedly paid for locals to paint swastikas around Kharkiv, sources say. The effort, according to the sources, was part of a false flag operation to exaggerate Ukraines Nazi presence at a time when Putin was using it as a pretext for war.
The alleged plot, according to multiple sources, involved Pavel Fuks, a real estate, banking, and oil magnate who, the sources claim, was co-opted by Russian security forces to participate. Through intermediaries, Fuks allegedly offered between $500 and $1,500 for street level criminals to vandalize city streets with pro-Nazi graffiti in December, January, and February.
The accounts of Fuks alleged efforts to stir up animosity in Ukraine is derived from multiple sources, including U.S. intelligence reporting. Rolling Stone spoke to an Ukrainian who says he confronted Fuks twice about the alleged swastika plot. Another account of the plot was relayed to the U.S. government in recent weeks by a U.S. informant with high-level business and government contacts in Ukraine. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, confirmed that the allegations about Fuks activities had been received and distributed for analysis throughout the U.S. intelligence community. Finally, Rolling Stone spoke to four other sources who spoke on condition of anonymity and confirmed they heard about Fuks alleged role in a plot to paint swastikas independently of one another.
Oleg Plyush, a former top Ukrainian kickboxer who says hes a friend of Fuks and spoke to him about the swastika plot, tells Rolling Stone he learned about the scheme from an intermediary involved with finding people to carry out the vandalism. According to Plyushs account, when confronted about the scheme, Fuks claimed that he had no choice and that it was his assignment mandatory if he wanted to stay in business in the region.
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Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/putin-russia-ukraine-invasion-nazi-operation-1325817/
calimary
(81,091 posts)Honest to Pete!
I love the irony of the involvement of a guy named Fuks (although I suspect it's probably not pronounced the way I think it looks...)!
Jacson6
(347 posts)PSPS
(13,577 posts)This is how oligarchs are dependent on putin being in power. Putin takes a cut and, in exchange, he lets them "stay in business." Now you know how 80% of russia's GDP is skimmed off the top and divided up between the oligarchs and putin himself, leaving a paltry 20% to maintain the country.
SunSeeker
(51,507 posts)Justice matters.
(6,915 posts)This species is FUBAR.
DENVERPOPS
(8,787 posts)any ideas...........