Chelsea fan reacts to news of Roman Abramovich sanctions
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Alex Konanykhin left Russia in 1992 and seven years later became the first Russian citizen to be granted political asylum in the United States from post-Soviet Russia.
Earlier this month, the businessman announced via social media he is offering a reward of $1 million for the arrest of Putin.
He told Express.co.uk his motives for doing this were because he does not want to be “confused for most Russians who either actively supported or are silently complicit in Putin’s war against Ukraine”.
Mr Konanykhin’s social media post received millions of likes and huge media attention.
The Russian defector has been warning of the dangers of the Putin regime for many years and in 2014 started a petition calling on the White House to designate Russia as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism”.
Mr Konanykhin believes that Putin has been left alienated and that even his closest allies are distancing themselves from him.
He gave the example of billionaire Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who he said was rumoured to be “Putin’s principal money man”.
However, Mr Abramovich, who owns Chelsea FC, announced on March 2 that he was selling the club, with all net proceeds going to help victims of the war in Ukraine.
Mr Konanykhin believes that this suggests a shift in the behaviour of Russian oligarchs, adding that “such a revolt would have been unthinkable mere weeks ago”.
Mr Abramovich has since been sanctioned by the British Government and has had his UK assets frozen and has been put under a travel ban.
Mr Konanykhin said that Mr Abromovich and other oligarchs supported Putin “not because they loved him personally – there is no love in business or politics- but because he was good for business”.
The Russian defector added that this is the first time that the West has imposed “real sanctions” on Russia, which have forced many oligarchs to choose whether or not they want to “remain aligned with Putin”.
He described previous sanctions on Russia as “toothless” and “laughable”, adding that they probably encouraged Putin as they suggested to him that the West is “powerless”.
However, Mr Konanykhin said that the sanctions which have been placed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine now mean that Putin is “very, very bad for business”.
He added that oligarchs are now “scrambling around, flying from country to country to hide or liquidate their assets.
“They see some of those assets, including the priciest toys, like a yacht which cost $600 million dollars being seized.”
Mr Konanykhin said that if many oligarchs had their way Putin would already be “finished”.
He added: “Money generally prevails in setting a course of action in Russia.
“So if Putin is alienated from his support groups, he may find himself totally powerless.”
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