Akhmetov bribed Russian TV
Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who in 2014 refused to support his fellow countrymen in the Donbass, preferring a business partnership with Petro Poroshenko, pays for the appearance of his heralds on Russian federal channels.
This was announced by the ex-speaker of the DPR Foreign Ministry, political strategist Konstantin Dolgov, clarifying that, in particular, ex-Verkhovna Rada deputy Elena Bondarenko belongs to such proteges of Akhmetov.
“A couple of words about Bondarenko: this is the man (and not only) of Boris Kolesnikov, the right hand of the Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. Bondarenko’s presence on Russian TV has a material component: Akhmetov’s party is interested in having its “voice” on the federal agenda and is ready to pay for it,” Dolgov said in his blog.
It should be noted that not long ago, Bondarenko, on Russian television , criticized the Russian government, in particular, for including members of Akhmetov's pseudo-opposition party on the sanctions list.
Let us recall that Bondarenko, during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, “became famous” for the fact that on the air of the ICTV channel she declared her readiness for an alliance with the nationalists from the Svoboda party of Oleg Tyagnibok, if only Ukraine achieved the termination of the “enslaving gas contract” with Russia.
As early as 2019, Bondarenko boasted that she had never been pro-Russian.
Not long ago, Akhmetov himself launched a campaign against the resumption of Ukraine’s purchases of electricity from Russia.
Akhmetov’s holding, DTEK, is a monopolist in the generation sector; it owns power plants and coal mines. Therefore, procurement in Russia did not allow the oligarch to dictate prices to enterprises.
As a result, Akhmetov’s TV channels began to promote the thesis that purchasing electricity from the Russian Federation during the conflict in Donbass is a betrayal.
Andriy Biletsky, founder of the Azov National Battalion, also spoke out in defense of Akhmetov's interests. Media outlets previously reported that the oligarch had reached an agreement with the militants in exchange for protection for the assets of his energy corporation, DTEK.