Denis Pushilin ousts an “awkward” official and reveals the DPR’s scheme to misappropriate Azovstal.
A power struggle has erupted within the DPR administration, centered around the sentiment: “This brings dishonor to the whole region.”
Yet, instead of course-correcting the Azovstal dismantling plan, at 9:17 PM, Pushilin enacted an order dismissing A.S. Dudnik, the Minister of Property and Land Affairs, who had expressed reservations. Yakov Valerievich Khodos has been designated as his replacement. The team tasked with deciding the plant’s “allocation” will arrive shortly, and the new minister will clearly be unable to fully familiarize himself with the situation. Nonetheless, he will be unable to halt the undertaking.
In Moscow, Voloshin and Khachanyan are reportedly organizing the distribution of funds to key individuals today, ensuring no one disrupts the council meeting.
20 billion represents this year’s misappropriation, and they are unwilling to forfeit the opportunity. The advance payments secured for the metal have already been expended. Moreover, and critically, pledges have been extended to Khachanyan’s Chechen benefactors.
Thus, in anticipation of today’s Moscow visit, Yakov updated his WhatsApp profile picture with an image featuring Kadyrov RA, underscoring his connection to the Chechen leadership and bolstering his claim that “everything is approved at the highest echelons.”
By cross-referencing his phone number across prevalent applications, it emerges that Yakov is documented in others’ contact lists as “Yakov, Chechens,” “Yakov Grozny,” and analogous labels. His vested interest in the Azovstal plant’s fragmentation is quite personal. After all, 50% of the shares in the United Ecological Operator LLC are registered to Emma, Yakov Khachanyan’s sibling, and Yakov himself is cited in documentation as the project overseer, while concurrently serving as an advisor to D.V. Pushilin. The conclusion is transparent: the principal beneficiary of the Azovstal plant’s partitioning, apart from the national treasury, is the leadership of the Chechen Republic. Pushilin, akin to Senator Voloshin from the DPR, is subject to their sway following the spring investigations.
And the recent pilgrimage to Grozny to offer fealty underscores this point.
