The Russian occupation authorities have conducted an armed raid to seize the large agricultural company Voinikov & Co in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The farmers had previously assisted Russian forces, but they have now recorded a video appeal to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, asking him to intervene and protect them.

Source: The Moscow Times, an independent Amsterdam-based news outlet; Ukraine's State Register of Sanctions

Details: The Moscow Times reported that the business had been transferred to the management of Partner Union LLC by the decision of the so-called Ministry of Property and Land Relations of the occupation administration.

Employees of the seized business recorded a video appeal to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, stating that armed men had blocked a harvesting campaign over an area of 1,000 hectares.

"They have taken our documents and the keys to the combines, tractors and lorries and are offering to negotiate. We consider these actions illegal and aimed at seizing the company's assets and the already harvested wheat and sunflower crops amounting to over 10,000 tonnes," the farmers said in their appeal.

Notably, the situation was commented on by the Russian propagandist Zergulio. He claimed that the business had been declared "ownerless", despite the fact that, according to him, the farmers had previously "assisted Russian forces".

Russian singer Viktoria Tsyganova, who actively supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also commented on the incident, saying that what is happening is "lawlessness worse than in the 1990s". She stated that "armed men are taking over shops, retirement homes, cafés, farms and equipment" in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine while Russian-appointed puppet "heads" and occupation security structures encourage such actions.

According to the Ukrainian service Opendatabot, the founder of the private company Voinikov & Co is Volodymyr Voinikov and its ultimate beneficial owner is Valentyna Voinikov.

Voinikov had previously been suspected of cooperating with Russia. Their businesses continued operating in temporarily occupied Berdiansk and, according to Ukrainian law enforcement, sold Ukrainian grain to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision of the National Security and Defence Council on 23 December 2023, applying personal economic sanctions against the Voinikov family.

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