Ukrainian tycoon creates own “billionaire’s battalion” to fight Russian invasion PHOTO

The founder and CEO of one of Ukraine's largest grain production and export companies has created his own battalion to fight Russian troops on the frontlines in eastern Ukraine.

Vsevolod Kozhemyako, is the head of Agrotrade Group, one of Ukraine's foremost crop producing enterprises whose grain is currently stuck in storage unable to be exported due to Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports, according to Daily Mail.

The businessman is one of Ukraine's wealthiest men and has long documented his life of luxury, which sees him travel the globe to ski, golf and tour various exotic locations, on social media.

But when Putin's troops began to advance in the Donbas, the 52-year-old multi-millionaire piled his vast resources into the war effort.

The father-of-four is now the commander of a military 'charter' - an infantry battalion composed mostly of civilian volunteers who have been trained and given access to weapons, vehicles and military equipment, all fully funded by Agrotrade Group's CEO and other wealthy businessmen.

The charter - colloquially dubbed a 'billionaire's battalion' - is given orders by Ukraine's Armed Forces like any other unit, but is operated independently by Kozhemyako.

'I'm a businessman... and now I'm a commander of a military unit in Ukraine,' the 52-year-old told NPR.

Forbes Ukraine has listed the Agrotrade CEO's wealth at $100million and says his company’s collective manage around 70,500 hectares of land throughout Ukraine. 

A native of Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, he decided to stay behind when many of his wealthy countrymen fled and in March was pictured helping out local emergency and rescue services as the urban centre was pounded by Russian missiles.

He later decided to build his own battalion, fronting huge sums of cash to purchase and maintain a variety of equipment for his infantry, composed of Kharkiv locals and other Ukrainians fleeing from Russian-held territory in the east.

Each volunteer is given an AK-47, body armour and a helmet, and trained in basic weapon-handling and combat readiness by retired military personnel before being given access to vehicles, heavy weapons and drones. 

The policy on new recruits deciding to leave is a relaxed one - a former colonel overseeing basic training of the volunteers said anyone who wants to pull out of the unit after completing the first instalment of training is welcome to do so.