Rostec is one of the most important manufacturers of Russian weapons. The company is headed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s KGB colleague Sergei Chemezov, and Brovko is Chemezov’s confidant.
In the spring and summer of 2022, Russian Telegram messengers more and more often mentioned Brovko in their posts.
“It reached its peak in June, when in just three days he was mentioned at least 3,000 times on Telegram, although earlier he was mentioned at best a few dozen times a month,” the journalists said.
Brovko was accused of corruption, tax evasion, and it was claimed that he had got a position at Rostec thanks to his wife, who was called an “escort.”
Read also: Russian journalist Sobchak flees Russia after her detention ordered – Russian media
The material, with reference to Brovko’s “acquaintance,” says that he was “seriously affected by these publications.”
Therefore, when in mid-July Putin criticized Rostec at a meeting of the Council on National Projects, Brovko convinced Chemezov that Rostec should take control of the Telegram messengers, since the president was criticizing the company based on their posts. Chemezov involved security forces in this.
A few weeks after Putin’s statement, security forces arrested 10 people who had “attacked” Brovko and Rostec on Telegram.
In addition, security forces arrested three people working for Sobchak, who had been publicly feuding with Kandelaki for several years. At the same time, in a comment to Proekt, Kandelaki said that she had nothing to do with the persecution of Sobchak.
“In late October, Chemezov came to the birthday of entrepreneur Andrei Bokarev,” the journalists wrote.
“As soon as he arrived for the party, the newly created Tushite svet (Turn off the light) Telegram messenger with an audience of slightly more than 10,000 subscribers published news that Bokarev was celebrating his birthday with style, with Chemezov and singer Grigory Leps among the guests.”
Brovko “magically” noticed this publication after 10 minutes and forwarded it to Chemezov. The Rostec’s head instructed Brovko to find out who was behind this messenger.
After that, the company’s employees contacted the messenger’s administrators not on behalf of Chemezov, but on behalf of a “consortium of businessmen.” They demanded the removal of the material about Bokarev’s birthday.
“In response, Sobchak’s employees offered the caller to agree on a ‘blocking’ – for RUB 10 million a year, they were ready to send any news with a mention of a specific person for negotiation,” the material says.
After that, Brovko reported to Chemezov that the news had been published by a messenger channel belonging to Sobchak, whose employees were asking for money to remove the publication.
“Apparently, this information angered the Rostec’s head – at least the journalist’s acquaintance assures that he personally called the Interior Ministry’s leadership with a request to punish the ‘star,’” the journalists said.
“As a result, security forces detained three employees of her Telegram messenger channel, and Sobchak herself received a warning from her friends that she would also be detained. That’s why she decided to go abroad.”
The media outlet also reported that a few days later, Sobchak’s mother, Liudmila Narusova, taking advantage of her long-standing acquaintance with Putin, called him and learned that the Russian dictator had not authorized the arrest of her daughter.
At the same time, in a conversation with the Proekt media outlet, Narusova denied the fact of this conversation. An interlocutor close to the presidential administration and Sobchak’s acquaintance told about it.
“Later Sobchak returned to Russia, where she first went to reconcile with Chemezov privately, and then apologized to him in her Telegram messenger. However, so far this has not led to the release of her employees from custody,” the material says.
The Russian propaganda news agency TASS reported on Sobchak’s escape from Russia on its Telegram messenger with reference to a source in law enforcement agencies. It was noted that she left for Lithuania via Belarus.
Meanwhile, Director of the State Security Department of Lithuania Darius Jauniškis said that Sobchak had left the country as a citizen of Israel.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
