Becoming one of the heads of Russia’s massive grain-looting operation in occupied south-east Ukraine may seem an unusual career move for Nikita Busel, the founder of two boutique hotels and a hipster coffee shop chain in central Russia. But by the summer, the businessman was in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, which had been partially seized by Russian troops in March.
But by the summer, the businessman was in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, which had been partially seized by Russian troops in March.
As local officials installed by Moscow set up a “military-civilian administration” to govern the newly occupied territories, Busel took on the role of general director of a new government-run firm: the State Grain Operator.