March 7, 2026, 3 p.m.
The occupation administration of the temporarily occupied Crimea is trying to encourage former participants in the aggression against Ukraine to engage in entrepreneurial activities. According to the head of the local branch of the Russian state fund 'Defenders of the Fatherland' Vladimir Tregub, militants are promised cash payments to start their own businesses.
This was reported by Krym.Realii.
To receive the money, applicants must submit a ready-made business plan and submit documents to the social security authorities controlled by Russia. The support is allegedly intended for renting premises and purchasing equipment. The occupiers have also provided for the possibility of applying for assistance through wives by proxy - this applies to the invaders who have been seriously injured or have a first or second group disability.
Despite an active media campaign, real interest in the program has been scanty: according to official data from the occupiers themselves, only six applications have been submitted for the entire peninsula. Such low activity may indicate a lack of trust in the promises of the occupation authorities or the inability of most wounded militants to actually engage in entrepreneurship.
It has also become known that the occupation has changed the balance of fishing in Crimea - catches are falling, and the market is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few players. As it turned out, a significant part of illegal fishing in Ukrainian waters is controlled by a narrow circle of interconnected companies of collaborators and Russian businesses.
Over the ten years of Russian occupation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the volume of fish and other aquatic bioresources has decreased threefold - from 15,500 tons to 4,700 tons.
Катерина Глушко