Yuri Kobzar16:29, 02/23/24

Johnson claims that he did not take the money, but the story has been following him for six years.

The current Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson , who consistently blocks the allocation of American aid to Ukraine, was elected to the American Parliament with the financial support of the Russians. In particular, his election campaign was financed by the owner of a cartridge factory in Tula, writes Newsweek .

In 2018, Johnson began campaigning for a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was eventually able to win the election and entered parliament in 2020. However, as it turned out, his lengthy election campaign was partially financed by a group of Russians through the Texas company American Ethane.

Although American Ethane was co-founded by American John Houghtaling, at that time 88% of the company’s shares were owned by three Russians – Mikhail Yuryev, Andrey Kunatbaev and Konstantin Nikolaev. The latter is one of the close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Newsweek notes.

This fact became clear back in 2018. Then Johnson’s representative assured that the money received from American Ethane was returned as soon as the campaign headquarters was “informed of the situation.” 

American law specifically prohibits politicians from receiving campaign money from foreigners or entities controlled by foreigners. No one has been able to prove that Johnson deliberately violated this law. But the current Speaker of the House of Representatives still remembers that episode.

Who is Konstantin Nikolaev

52-year-old billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev was born in Dnepropetrovsk, but has lived in Russia since his youth. He is now engaged in the railroad freight and port business. Together with two partners, he owns Globaltrans, Russia’s largest private rail transport operator.

He is also a co-owner of two cartridge factories – in Tula and Ulyanovsk. These factories supplied ammunition to Russian troops during their invasion of Ukraine.

In 2019, Forbes estimated the oligarch’s fortune at $1.2 billion.

Nikolaev is also known for financially supporting Maria Butina, a Russian citizen who was sentenced in the US to 18 months in prison in 2019 for trying to infiltrate conservative political groups and influence US foreign policy in favor of Russia.

Mike Johnson’s position on Ukraine

As UNIAN wrote, Mike Johnson was appointed to the post of Speaker of the Lower House of Congress in October under the patronage of Donald Trump. From the very beginning, Johnson verbally declares his commitment to Ukraine and insists that Russia must be stopped.

At the same time, it is Johnson, using his official powers, who is blocking the adoption of a new program for financing the supply of American weapons to Ukraine. He refused to bring to a vote in the House of Representatives a large legislative package proposed by Joe Biden, which included spending to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan along with funding for strengthening the US border.

Later, when an alternative bill was successfully passed through the upper house of Congress, from which the issue of the American border was removed, Johnson refused to put this option to a vote in the lower house. And then he sent the deputies on vacation until the end of February, when Russia significantly intensified its offensive actions at the front in Ukraine.

(C)UNIAN 2024