Blackwater founder Erik Prince had plans to create a $10 billion private army in Ukraine, according to an investigation by TIME. The former Navy SEAL hoped to hire Ukrainian combat veterans and acquire large portions of Ukrainian defense infrastructure including fighter jets and helicopters. Parts of his proposal that required approval by the Ukrainian government would have allowed Prince to build munitions factories in the country and combine the nation’s leading aerospace and aviation firms to compete with Boeing and Airbus. Officials were skeptical of the proposal because people tied to the project had interests that aligned with Russia, an aggressor in the region, and two of Prince’s allies were under criminal investigation in New York. “We had to wonder: Is this the best sort of partnership we can get from the Americans? This group of shady characters working for a close ally of Trump?” said Igor Novikov, a former aide to the Ukrainian president.
