Ukrainian oligarchs try to restore peace
After authorities failed to restore peace within the Ukrainian borders, the country's richest people decided that it was their turn to make an attempt.
Rinat Akhmetov is the majority shareholder of the Ukrainian metallurgy group, Metinvest, with an estimated value worth $12.8 billion. He declared that he is in favor of a unified Ukraine and, therefore, his employees had been grouped into private militia that patrol the city of Maripol alongside the police.
Akhmetov was also rumored to have given money to pro-Russian supporters in an attempt to deflate their separatist attitudes, although the oligarch had later denied doing such a thing, stating that: 'I have not bought out anyone, I have persuaded them. And if I have persuaded two-thirds so far, I will continue to persuade them further.'
Meanwhile, in another part of eastern Ukraine, oligarch Igor Kolomoyskiy who, with $3 billion, is the second richest person in the country, has been maintaining the order by offering cash rewards in exchange for seized weapons and information regarding subversive activities.
A third oligarch, Sergey Taruta, with a net worth $2.7 billion, has been asigned by the Kiev government to take over the Donetsk but, as recent rebel victories have shown, he has failed to keep the region under Kiev's control.