1/ If Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had succeeded in 2022, Ukraine's industries would have been seized and taken over by Russian oligarchs. A leaked document shows that oligarch Konstantin Malofeev intended to create a 'DMZ Concern' from Ukraine's largest plants. ⬇️
2/ Malofeev is a billionaire who is a close supporter of Vladimir Putin and an aggressive promotor of religious conservatism. He's an overt monarchist who reportedly sees Putin as a new Tsar, and has links with far-right parties and individuals in Europe and the US.
3/ The EU, US and Canada have sanctioned Malofeev for trying to destabilise Ukraine and finance separatism. He's closely linked to pro-Russian separatists and was the former employer of Igor Girkin. He's been accused of funding radical nationalist movements across Europe.
4/ The DMZ Concern document, a presentation possibly dated 30 May 2022, was published recently by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel. It sets out a business plan for the "expansion of production assets based on the results of the Special Military Operation".
5/ The first slide shows what appears to be the intended territorial division of a defeated Ukraine, with the whole of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts – up to the Moldovan and Romanian borders – under Russian control.
6/ This would have stripped Ukraine of its entire coastline, all its ports and much of its heavy industry, hydroelectric and mineral resources. It would have become an economically devastated and landlocked rump state, likely under the control of a pro-Russian puppet government.
7/ Slide 2 describes the 'DMZ concern' as a vastly expanded version of the existing Donetsk Metallurgical Plant (DMZ) company, which operates mines and other industrial enterprises in the 'Donetsk People's Republic'. It states a goal of achieving:
8/ "consolidation of existing financial, economic, technical and market opportunities of enterprises of key industries in the liberated territories of the DPR, LPR and Kherson, Zaporizhzhia regions, which form the [economic] basis of the south-east region of the former Ukraine."
9/ After listing DMZ's existing holdings on slide 4 (#3 is missing), slide 5 of the plan lists "enterprises located in the liberated territories [that] are possible [candidates] for integration" with DMZ. They include some of Europe's largest mining and mineral processing plants.
10/ These include the Marganets Mining and Processing plant and the Nikopol Ferroalloy plant (both in Dnipropetrovsk oblast), the Zaporizhstal steel plant in Zaporizhzhia oblast and others. Slide 7 discusses a number of additional Ukrainian factories being considered for seizure.
11/ Slides 5.1 and 5.2 indicate that this was not just a theoretical exercise – the plan was already well advanced. Legal work had been done and management agreements had been signed as part of a three-stage plan to be carried out through 2022–2027.
12/ Interestingly, slide 5.3 lists among various business and growth goals for the 2023–2027 period an objective of achieving "Entry into the markets of friendly and sub-allied countries of Eurasian Economic Union, Middle East (Iran, Syria), South-East Asia, Turkey and Africa."
13/ The plan sets out a goal of aligning the DMZ Concern with a "strategic partner" (presumably Russian) and inclusion of its enterprises in "the state programmes of the Russian Federation." It also raises the possible takeover of Odesa port to serve DMZ.
14/ The end result, anticipated on slide 8, is the "reactivation of cooperation and activities of enterprises in the key sectors of the liberated territories of the DPR, LPR and south-eastern Ukraine…
15/ …in the form of a cumulative increase in annual financial indicators from RUR 70 billion [$990 million] (data for 2021) to RUR 220 billion [$3.1 billion] by 2024." This would achieve the "creation of a major enterprise in the interests of the Russian Federation."
16/ The slide indirectly acknowledges the impact of the DNR's large-scale mobilisation of fighting-age men, most of whom are now likely dead, by describing a goal of the "preservation of 8,616 jobs (excluding those mobilized)". It anticipates having over 16,000 workers by 2024.
17/ The plan doesn't specify where the extra workers would come from, but it's likely that – as has happened in Crimea – large numbers of people would be relocated from Russia to repopulate Ukraine's south-east, replacing the Ukrainians who have fled or been deported from there.
18/ Needless to say, the Ukrainian owners of the seized enterprises would not have received a kopek in compensation. With their collective value of billions of dollars, Malofeev was planning arguably the biggest heist in history – though it's now hopefully been thwarted. /end
1/ Following political pressure, Wildberries' CEO Tatyana Kim – Russia's richest woman – says that the company will compensate its sellers for their losses despite a recent change of its terms and conditions that absolved it of liability. ⬇️
2/ Colossal quantities of goods – likely hundreds of millions of items – have been destroyed in Ukraine's recent drone strikes on several Wildberries warehouses. Forbes Russia estimates the total damage so far to be as much as 283–303 billion rubles ($3.60–3.86 billion).
3/ Some individual traders have sustained huge losses. One company alone, Russian clothing brand Finn Flare, says it has lost goods worth over 100 million rubles ($1.28 million) in the fire caused by the attack on the Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal.
1/ The sight of more burning warehouses has prompted angry denunciations from Russian warbloggers of the "bureaucratic pimples" who are allegedly sabotaging air defences. Anti-drone mobile fire teams, in particular, are said to be in disarray. ⬇️
"Today, the enemy attacked the Wildberries warehouses again. Successfully—for the enemy, that is. It appears we’ve lost two major logistics terminals at once: in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk."
3/ "There are plenty of photos, but I won’t be posting them. Things are just as bad for the enemy: our side didn’t take it lying down and, judging by the information available, have wiped out two similarly large terminals in Odesa and Mykolaiv.
1/ Ukraine's increasingly devastating attacks on Wildberries warehouses in Russia are intended to dismantle Russia's e-commerce economy, disrupt logistics, and drive up prices even further, say Russian bloggers. They are calling for urgent action. ⬇️
2/ Roman Alekhin sees the writing on the wall for Wildberries:
"1. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have already inflicted extreme damage and will most likely continue to do so.
3/ "2. The platform economy will not perish with the collapse of Wildberries. The platform economy is not about mega-warehouses, but about mega-management.
1/ As more Wildberries warehouses burn following Ukrainian drone attacks, here's a handy guide to the top 10 e-commerce warehouses in Russia – which should also help to serve as an indicator of where Ukrainian drones are likely to fly next.
2/ The Russian Telegram channel 'ZaTelekom' writes:
"The largest distribution and fulfillment centers of Russian companies (taking into account the queues introduced) form the following top ten (I marked with emoticons where already [attacked]):
3/ "1. 💥 Wildberries Koledino Distribution Centre (Podolsk, Moscow Region)
Area: ~250,000–280,000 sq. m.
1/ The 'SVOshnik' – a drunk, traumatised, violent veteran of the Ukraine war – has become a figure of fear in Russia. Russian journalist and activist Anastasia Kashevarova, who has fought for soldiers' rights, admits that some veterans are out of control. ⬇️
2/ Many participants in the Ukraine war have been discharged, usually through ill-health or in some lucky cases, having completed contracts. They have brought with them a wave of violence and crime, with even prostitutes avoiding them.
3/ A large part of the problem, as Kashevarova notes, is that participants in the 'Special Military Operation' (SVO) are often treated with deference by law enforcement agencies, leaving ordinary people vulnerable to their violent behaviour. She writes:
1/ Claims by a senior Russian military official that the Russian army's tactical medicine system is efficient and rapid are greeted with incredulity by Russian commentators. They point out that wounded soldiers are often not evacuated for days or weeks. ⬇️
2/ Deputy Minister of Defence Anna Tsivileva – a relative of Putin's who was controversially appointed a lieutenant general despite no previous military experience – has given an upbeat assessment of the performance of Russian tactical medicine.
3/ At a board meeting of the Russian MOD, Tsilvileva said that since December 2025, work has been undertaken as a high priority to improve the speed of evacuations and the quality of primary care on the front lines.