WEBVTT - The Kursk Raid Suicide 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:06.400 CAUs Media. Something strange is going on. Another member of 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:08.039 the Russian elite has been found dead. 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:11.160 Reports suggests that he fell out of a window poisoned 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:12.080 with mushrooms. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.480 He died of heart failure, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:16.919 How comes you are they? 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:22.880 Dozens of Russian oligachs, politically motivated millionaires have died in 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.960 the space of three years, most of them in suspicious circumstances. 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.080 Many have hidden links to the Kremlins. This is sad 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:37.880 Oligach Season two, an ongoing investigation into these recently dead 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:42.800 Russian power brokers. Sad Oligach is created by me jake 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:47.839 Hanrahan and my Ukrainian colleague Sergei Slipchenko. This is a 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:58.320 H eleven Studio and Coolso Media production. June seventh, twenty 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:03.640 twenty five, fifty three year old Russian oligarch Roman Stovoid 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:12.240 is having a very bad day. Storovoid is the Minister 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:17.920 of Transport, a prestigious position in Putin's regime. Well, he 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:22.039 was the Minister of Transport. Stovoid has just been fired. 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:28.480 Allegedly he's been involved in dodgy dealings in Kursk, a 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:32.319 region of western Russia. The Ukrainian forces attacked during a 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.440 cross border raid in twenty twenty four. 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:37.520 Lord. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:44.720 This was completely humiliating for Putin and his ongoing invasion 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:45.440 of Ukraine. 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.200 Ukraine had seized parts of the Western Russian region in 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:49.440 a surprising cursion. 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.200 Imagine that you invade a country with what was then 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.360 known as the second most powerful military in the world, 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:01.240 and they invade you right back. The joke at the 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.320 time was that Russia was now only the second best 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:11.680 army in Russia, Ukraine being the first. How embarrassing. Starovoid 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.359 is being blamed for a lot of this commotion by 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:19.320 a deputy in Kursk. He's hardly innocent himself, as he's 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:23.480 been arrested on embezzlement charges, but he is singing like 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:29.720 a canary, corruption, fraud, theft, he says. Starovoid is involved 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.200 in all of it, and so he's fired from his 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.880 role as the Minister of Transport and sent home back 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:48.680 to his sprawling Moscow mansion. Later that day, Starovoid gets 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:50.600 in his car and goes for a drive without its 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:55.960 security detail. He brings with him a commemorative Makarov pistol. 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.960 It's a very nice looking weapon. The Soviet Union's official 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.320 standard military sidearm. The Macarov is a semi automatic that 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.240 holds eight rounds in a detachable box magazine. It's a 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:14.680 specifically reliable and accurate pistol. Some call it the Ak 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:16.840 forty seven of handguns. 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:20.120 At some point on. 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:24.080 His journey, Starovoid pulls up to malovich Pak, what looks 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.359 like a manufactured nature reserve for the rich and powerful, 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.880 started with corporate art installations that think they're far too 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.800 clever than they are, perhaps the perfect location for a 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:42.200 now unemployed Russian oligarch. Parked up in his tesla, Stovoid 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:46.680 takes the Macarov in his hands, slight weight less than 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.440 a kilo. The barrel is short and smooth. It's got 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.400 a burgundy bake light handle grip with the red Army 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:58.160 star embossed in the center. Sterovoid puts the macroov to 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:03.800 his head, steadies his and and pulls the trigger. He 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.880 blows out his own brains inside the car, or at 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:13.960 least that's the official story one of them. So who 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:19.080 was Roman Starovoid? Well, as is the norm inside oligarch, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:24.080 he was an extremely wealthy individual with many different properties 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:29.599 across Russia. Tracking his true fortune is difficult, as he 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.279 basically funneled his money through several different avenues. But put 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.120 it this way, Sterovoid made his hay while the sun 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:40.440 shined during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian oligarchs 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.080 who did that when they were young men are usually 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:47.320 filthy rich by now. Sergei explains the come up for 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.560 Stovoid and unusually young oligarch. 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.600 He graduated in nineteen eighty five from Baltic State Technical University, 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.200 Saint Petersburg. So nineteen eighty five, you know, putting sun period. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.400 But he he is quite a significant figure in Saint Petersburg, 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.800 and he's already a kind of uh Sagary is consolidating 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:11.600 power Starovoids straight out of university. He did essentially an 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:15.520 engineering degree, but he goes straight into asset management firm 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:17.159 from nineteen eighty five thousand and one. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.320 So this I find interesting. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.839 Starovoid studied engineering, but as soon as he left university 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.920 he went straight into asset management. Now that can mean 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.400 many things. Officially, it enables an organization to examine the 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.920 need for and performance of assets and asset systems at 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:37.880 different levels. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:38.599 Whatever. 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.600 Many oligauchts in Russia and the rest of the world, 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:46.000 specifically the West, find asset management to be an industry 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:50.320 in which they thrive. Personally, I think the obduse nature 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.599 of it all is perfect for people look into either 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:58.679 hide or divert funds. Sterovoid worked for a company called 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:03.520 First Industrial Alliance, a non state pension fund. On page 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:07.240 seventy five of a report by the Koc Institute titled 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:11.520 Action Plan on Strengthening Sanctions against the Russian Federation, it's 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.360 detailed how the company was designated a Russian defense entity 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.240 that we're hit with sanctions due to their role in 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.640 the Ukraine War. We'll hear more about that in a bit, 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:25.800 but needless to say, Starovoid was involved with entities that 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.560 would later prop up Putin's war from back back back 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:34.200 in the day, favors are always called in back to surgery. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.240 There's not much information about this time period, but I mean, 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.200 even the fact that he's just graduating and then straight 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.400 into an asset management firm, I assume he has some 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.640 kind of connections. His father doesn't seem very notable. All 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.760 I have I could find was just brief mentions that 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:55.039 you know, Starovoids was born in Kursk, and then his father, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.640 who worked at a nuclear power plant in the course, 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.400 was transferred to Petersburg, and that's kind of how he 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:06.320 got there and why he grew up there. So all 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.440 we really know is asset management firm nineteenninety five thousand 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.120 and one. Then he is the owner of a stroy Invest, 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.600 a construction company. This is between thousand and two thousand 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:20.480 and five. I'm sure, as you've seen in this as 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:24.160 we've been reresearching in construction firms, really good way to 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:25.040 earn money. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:27.360 It's a really good way to hide money and. 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.840 Wash yeah, yeah, you know, you make deliveries. He specifically 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:36.680 sold materials, but also was involved in some building projects 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.560 by cheaper material than you promised or you know, delivered 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.480 cheaper or less keep the money and things like that. 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:43.840 It'll come up later. 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.920 This is what we call foreshadowing. Trust me, Storoboids messing 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.040 about with building works led to serious catastrophe for him 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:54.320 and Russia as a whole. 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.800 This is where he probably learned the ways of the trade, 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:02.040 and then after two thousand and five he enters the government. Basically, 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:04.280 it's kind of interesting that he goes straight from the 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:09.200 company to leading the investment in strategic projects for c 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.760 Saint Petersburg, so like the municipal job. At the same time, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.880 he's studying, from my understanding, kind of like government administration, 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.600 and he graduates in two thousand and eight. This is 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.320 simultaneously as he's working for the city, he's studying, and 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.239 he keeps this job until twenty twelve when he becomes 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.680 a deputy director of the Department of Industry and Infrastructure. 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.280 This is for the federal government. 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:33.680 He only works there briefly from. 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.480 My understanding, just like a few months, until he becomes 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.400 the head of rosof door. It's basically a federal agency 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.520 which oversees construction of roads, bridges, et cetera, like anything else. 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.040 Related to federal roadwork. 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.959 He's in charge of it and he works for quite 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:54.680 some time. He allegedly got sanctioned because he was part 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.400 of the project building the Crimea bridge back in after 0:08:58.440 --> 0:08:59.559 twenty fourteen. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.000 So he would have been he would have been sanctioned 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.719 for that because he was essentially building a bridge. 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.120 On occupied territory. 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.439 Russia invaded even back then, okay with little Green men, 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:17.240 but we all know annexed and essentially took Ukrainian land 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.640 i e. Crimea, and he was part of construction. I 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.160 think this is where he first for what I can see, 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.319 this is the way he first kind of ends up 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:30.320 involved in the Ukraine War essentially from day one. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.080 Yeah, this is where he kind of becomes more notable 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:37.520 in that whole thing. Right before that, he's kind of 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:41.280 off the raidar doing doing his thing first in Saint Petersburg, 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.880 then on a thal level, but still just you know, 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.840 deputy directors are pretty high role, but also not entirely 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:49.880 you know, involved in kind of the the whole like 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.880 on a global scale kind of thing. But here after 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.720 Russia invade, you know, annexed to Crimea. 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.040 The I don't know. 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.160 If people remember there's once was pretty look warm, but 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:03.720 there were some sanctions and stuff. 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:13.120 Okay, now it's time for a quick adbreak. All right, 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:19.400 enough of that, now back to the shop. Let's talk 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.040 about Crimea in twenty fourteen. It's the catalyst as to 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.960 why Roman Starovoids ended up with a bullet in his 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:31.960 head eleven years later in twenty twenty five. Crimea is 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.760 almost an island to the south of Ukraine. It sits 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.600 on a peninsula stretching out between the Black Sea and 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.680 the Sea of Azov. This area is called the Kirk Straight. 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:47.200 Crimea is attached to Ukraine by a small seven kilometer 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:51.520 strip of land and now to Russia via the Kirk Bridge. 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.920 That bridge was not always there, and Crimea was not 0:10:54.960 --> 0:11:00.240 always occupied. For now at least, it's currently part of Russia. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:05.600 So towards the end of February twenty fourteen, whilst Ukraine 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:10.000 was in the throes of the Midan Revolution, unidentified military 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.880 men entered Crimea and surrounded the airports. They were all 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.559 dressed in green military fatigues, masked up and with no 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:26.000 identifying chevrons, patches or IDs on their uniform. They quickly 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.160 became known as the Little Green Men. They were, of course, 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:35.360 Russian forces. Within a month, the Crimean Autonomous Assembly was 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:39.520 seized by pro Russian separatists with the help of Russian 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:45.160 forces in the skies. The new makeshift administration declared independence 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:50.199 and held a shotgun referendum to make Crimea part of Russia. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.440 According to the Kremlin, ninety five point five percent of 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:58.080 voters supports the union with Russia, and so they annexed 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:02.880 the area. The results of this referendum are obviously not 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:09.480 recognized internationally. Whilst the region is majority Russian speaking, many 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.320 people there identify it as Ukrainians. They did not and 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.959 do not want to join Russia. Many either fled or 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.840 went into hiding. But to this day there are pro 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:25.280 Ukrainian underground militant groups in Crimea. They launched clandestine sabotage 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:29.600 attacks on the occupying Russian forces. Some even sneak into 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.880 Russia proper. The most recent attack happened in September of 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.720 this year when Tatar rebels burned down a Russian air 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:42.040 defense plan in the Russian city of Tula. They're unseen, 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:47.880 but they're active. Others left Crimea for mainland Ukraine and 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.720 joined the armed forces to fight against Russia. I spoke 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.720 to one of these people last year as she fought 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:57.040 on the front lines in the east. Her name is Kafa. 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.040 She was there on the ground when Russias wept into Crimea. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.200 I think it's important to hear her first hand account 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.960 to fully understand the bloodshed. Starovoid later profited. 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:13.760 From I am from Crimea. I was born in Crimea, 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:18.080 and for me and my family, it started way back 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:24.600 then in twenty fourteen. I am in my twenties, so 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:29.240 I was a teenager back then, and it was really 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:33.360 messy at the time, during the so called Russian Spring 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:39.720 in Crimea and witnessing it all and everything that came 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.640 after you. For the record, I lived, me and my 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:48.160 family lived under the occupation until twenty fifteen. It was 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:53.000 a shit show. Everyone was really scared. It's our family 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.640 home and we had like elderly grandparents, so we stayed. 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:04.240 And Russia just started immediate politicizing the children, so basically 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.400 us like we had to sing Russian and them, I 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.720 mean we didn't sing. It was it was funny, like 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.480 political resistance started there because me and some other kids 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:23.080 had a small resistance group. We were speaking Ukrainian, so 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:28.080 we were doing that and then some Cigare police came whatever, 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:32.120 and then later we decided that it's a better idea 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.640 to flee because it did not look good. 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.400 What was it like when like the day Russia just 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.840 arrived in Crimea. Was it like instant everything started to change. 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:48.560 No, it was first really unclear. Everything just got shut down, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:53.920 so no transport, no infrastructure working. We didn't go to school. 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.120 Some armed men are around. You are not supposed to 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:03.880 leave your homes, like lockdown kind of situation. Then some 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:09.000 like armed riots kind of things, protests in front of 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:13.960 the Parliament building, people being killed and shipped. Then at 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.960 some point it got very clear there is no help 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:22.160 coming at the Ukrainian military basis. Well, basically Ukrainian military 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:28.680 were either captured or shot dead by Russian military, some 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.360 of them decided to switch sides, some of them managed 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.920 to evacuate, So I guess it was also crazy for 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:40.960 military personnel, but for civilians it was messy. I don't know. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:48.120 When the full scale invasion started. I very quickly realized 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:52.880 I just can't stay where I am. I started to 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.240 train some friends of mine who are already serving in 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:01.760 the ninety third on different positions drown pilots, engineers. Then 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:07.800 I just got in because I already was a qualified person. 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:14.080 I very quickly passed all this documents military stuff, and 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:18.880 I finished the drone pilot course, so I was ready 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:19.200 to fly. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:38.560 Basically, Russia needed a way to ferry its military back 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:42.760 and forth into occupied Crimea from the mainland. Remember, the 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:47.560 country isn't actually connected physically to the peninsula, and so 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:53.000 in twenty sixteen a huge construction project began. The Kirch Bridge, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:58.040 also known as Crimea Bridge. As Sergei says, this is 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.920 more than just a way to get for a to B. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.720 The point of the bridge isn't just to connect Russia 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.840 and Crimea. It's almost like a symbolic thing showing like, well, 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.080 we're connected. This is a part of Russia. 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:11.040 So there's a lot of. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.080 Symbolism in there, and even from the technical kind of 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.120 logistics point, you know, it's important to have that connection. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:23.920 According to the Environmental Science and Technology Journal, the Kirch 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.680 Bridge is a seriously heavy duty project. 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:27.720 Quote. 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.800 The Kerch Bridge consists of a bridge structure for a 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.280 four lane highway and a separate structure for a parallel 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.800 double track railway line. The shipping canal in the Kirk 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.040 Straight spanned by two two hundred and twenty seven met 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.879 along tied arch bridges with a clear height of thirty 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:50.280 five meters. The motorway bridge is sixteen point eight kilometers 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.919 long and has two lanes separated by guardrails. Each carriageway 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:59.760 has a structurally separate superstructure made of an orthotropic slab 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:04.680 on two load carriers. The railway bridge is eighteen kilometers 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.639 long and its tracks lie on ballast beds and a 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:13.200 superstructure made of steel two cell hollow girders with orthotropic plates. 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:17.040 The bridge stand on five hundred and ninety five pillars 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.600 with a spacing of fifty four to sixty four meters, 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:25.840 which are founded on around seven thousand piles. This makes 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.840 the bridge structure the longest in Europe. The construction period 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:35.280 was four years and it cost three point six billion dollars. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:38.840 You need to know this information to get a full 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:43.719 picture of the sorts of resources and involvement Roman Starovoid 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:49.439 brought to Putin's largest project, the War on Ukraine. Starovoid 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.359 played a significant role in the construction of the Kerch 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.119 Bridge with his direct help. It was his company that 0:18:56.200 --> 0:19:01.399 provided money, assistance, materials. As you can see, that is 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:08.160 no small feat. Storovoid was eventually internationally sanctioned for his involvement. 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.280 He didn't realize at the time, but his part in 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:15.399 all of this the Crimean Bridge lined him up for 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.959 his eventual downfall in Kursk. 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:19.360 Remember. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:23.159 Kursk is where Roman Starovoy is originally from. He was 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.399 born there in nineteen seventy two, when the Soviet Union 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:30.080 was still up and running. From humble beginnings to having 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:34.040 properties all over the place. The boy done well. From 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:38.160 what we can see, Starovoy owned at least five apartments, 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:42.280 including luxury real estate, in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. He 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.439 also had a big country mansion on a plot of 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:49.720 almost twenty acres. It looks like going straight into asset 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:56.560 management having studied engineering was the right move for Starovoid. Okay, 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:04.640 now it's time for a quick adbreak. All right, enough 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:10.400 for that. Now back to the show. So let's fast 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.520 forward to October eleventh, twenty eighteen, seven years before the 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:18.320 gunshot in the Tesla. By decree of the President of 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.960 Russia put in himself, Roman Starovoid was appointed as the 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.600 acting governor of the Kursk Region. Everything he'd done in 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.320 Crimea had kept his profile in favor with the dictator 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.800 as a local lad. This appointment was, of course a 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:38.399 big deal for Starovoid, probably a dream come true. A 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:42.200 year later, he completed what is arguably the most ironic 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.200 training he could have taken, part in an anti corruption program. 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.080 This was part of the Higher School of Public Administration, 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.960 a sort of finishing school for governors to ultimately make 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.520 sure they don't come out as corrupt as many of 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:00.960 their predecessors. Following this, he fully entered in a circle 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.720 the Kremlin power structure. What I fin an interesting is 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:11.480 how he was being directly promoted by Putin. You don't 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:15.760 really end up working your way into that position unless 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:19.840 you're ready to do essentially whatever the state wants you 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:20.159 to do. 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:21.440 Right, Yeah, like. 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.840 Being handpicked by Putin is a pretty big deal. 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:25.280 Oh. 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.280 Additionally, in twenty twenty, he became a member of the 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:32.400 State Council. It's sort of like the minister's cabinet where 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:37.280 they're essentially they advised Putin and they decided all the policies, etc. 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:40.600 They're basically the ones deciding what's going to happen in Russia, 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:44.400 what the laws are with the policies it says internal 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:48.440 and for it. So they essentially oversee everything. And it's 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:53.240 basically like the cabinet, right, they oversee various parts of 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:55.600 the country and they make all the rules and start 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.080 of what it was part of this cabinet. From my understanding, 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.000 who's just a member and he wasn't the head or anything, 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.399 but still even being the member is quite a big deal. 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:08.320 And this cabinet or this council was created by Putin himself, 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:12.200 they're essentially handpicked by Putin to be in this cabinet, 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.360 and from my understanding, they're like a step down from 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:18.800 Putin in terms of power in Russia, like there's no 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:22.600 going higher than that. In a sense, that's kind of 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.640 I'd say that the highest position he could probably reach. 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:32.439 Storovoid fully embraced his new role. He wanted to be 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:36.439 the governor of Kursk almost indefinitely. He said in August 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:39.159 twenty twenty two that he wants to rule the region 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.800 for at least the next eight years until twenty thirty. 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:49.640 In the UK we call this brass neck, extremely brazen behavior. 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:53.720 This is the kind of guy he became. Storovoid was 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.880 all up from his admittance into Putin's in a circle. 0:22:57.400 --> 0:23:00.879 He felt big, important. He became a man about town. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:05.040 He even received a Putin sponsored award from one of 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:13.080 Russia's internal ministries. The trophy a commemorative Makarov pistol, the 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:18.440 very weapon he shot himself with. Around twenty twenty three, 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:22.040 Star of Wick got involved in the war again. Russia 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:26.000 invaded Ukraine a year previous, and the bloodshed was extreme. 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:31.880 Whole cities were flattened by Russian warplanes, ten ninety tanks 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:36.240 rolled through Ukrainian streets. Young men and women took up arms, 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:41.080 military battalions, volunteer units, clandestine saboteurs. 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:43.240 The war has been brutal. 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:48.399 I've seen it myself firsthand, reporting on the ground in Boradanka. 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:52.000 As an air raid siren, Basically it means there's Russian 0:23:52.040 --> 0:23:54.240 jets in the sky where a rocket's been fired nearby. 0:23:55.840 --> 0:23:59.280 Apartment blocks were blown to bits, the children's toys strewn 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:03.359 amongst the rubber. Dozens of civilians were handcuffed here and 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:07.680 shot in the back of the head by Russian forces, executions, 0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:13.800 war crimes, and nightmare. It's amongst this chaos that Stovoids 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:17.480 saw an opportunity. When the war kicked off in full, 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.840 when Russian armor moved into Ukraine, volunteer units formed on 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:25.240 the border. These were Russians who won't in the military 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:27.800 but still wanted to play a role in the conflict. 0:24:28.560 --> 0:24:32.919 Sterovoids seemed to have a similar desire. He consolidated the 0:24:32.920 --> 0:24:37.440 patrolling volunteer units and became their de facto leader. The 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:41.399 Russian media referred to him as being the general of 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:46.040 these factions. Now bear in mind that Stovoid had never 0:24:46.119 --> 0:24:49.960 served a day in his life. He'd always worked behind desks, 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:53.280 not on the front lines. But still he sought an 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:56.480 opportunity to act the tough guy and show Pootin that 0:24:56.560 --> 0:25:00.480 he was fully committed. He took control all of a 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:05.440 group called the Voluntary People Squad began recruiting many new fighters. 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:09.560 This put him firmly into the sludge of the Russian 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:14.000 war underbelly. It's here where he came into proximity with 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:19.240 p MC Wagner, the far right Kremlin backed mercenary force. 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:24.280 Wagner is known for its rampant brutality. They've even filmed 0:25:24.280 --> 0:25:28.560 themselves executing their own members with a sledgehammer to the head. 0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:35.120 Let's hear from journalist John Lekner. He's been documenting Wagner 0:25:35.160 --> 0:25:37.720 for years. He wrote a whole book about them called 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:39.680 Death is Our Business. 0:25:40.560 --> 0:25:47.360 Essentially, Wagner Group was a Russian private military company PMC 0:25:48.520 --> 0:25:52.479 that very much had very close ties to the Russian 0:25:52.520 --> 0:25:57.119 state itself, but ultimately it was founded by Yevgeny Pregosian, 0:25:57.680 --> 0:26:01.520 a guy who was sort of a small time gangster 0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:06.080 in Saint Petersburg who managed to raise himself up to 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:09.600 being a restauran tour and then moved his way up 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.880 through the Russian elite to eventually get the gig of 0:26:13.240 --> 0:26:17.879 providing meals to the Russian military and schools, and ultimately 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:24.280 came together with a former Russian military intelligence officer, Dmitri 0:26:24.440 --> 0:26:30.480 Utgen in twenty fourteen to provide mercenaries for the Russian 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.320 State to support rebels in eastern Ukraine and dnbas as 0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:37.840 the war was cooking off there in twenty fourteen and 0:26:37.920 --> 0:26:42.399 twenty fifteen, and then eventually back in Ukraine in twenty 0:26:42.440 --> 0:26:46.399 twenty two during the full scale invasion, where Wagner played 0:26:47.359 --> 0:26:52.240 an outsized role, especially in Bachmut In the meat Grinder, 0:26:52.280 --> 0:26:56.359 when Progosion recruited up to fifty thousand convicts to fight 0:26:56.440 --> 0:27:00.160 for him to try and take the city from Ukrainian four. 0:27:02.960 --> 0:27:03.400 PMC. 0:27:03.560 --> 0:27:07.639 Wagner recruits act like maniacs on the front lines. There 0:27:07.640 --> 0:27:11.200 were dozens of videos of them committing war crimes, chopping 0:27:11.280 --> 0:27:16.280 off people's limbs, heads, all sorts. It's grim. It's this 0:27:16.320 --> 0:27:19.480 group that Roman Starovoid chose to fall in with. He 0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:22.080 made his way to a Wagner training base after hearing 0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:25.879 about their infamy. He stayed for almost a week, he 0:27:25.920 --> 0:27:29.359 shot assault rifles and grenade launchers. He drove around in 0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:32.680