This is a daring offer made by this Russian businessman on February 27th. Based in California, Alex Konanykhin has indeed promised to offer a million dollars to the person who will arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I promise to pay $1,000,000 to law enforcement who, in accordance with their constitutional duty, will arrest Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international law,” reads a post shared on the entrepreneur’s Facebook and LinkdIn account.
The latter had initially published a poster representing the Russian leader, with the inscription: “Wanted: Dead or alive (wanted: Dead or alive). Vladimir Putin for mass murder”. However, this image was quickly deleted by Facebook.
[ RUSSIE | UKRAINE ]
Alex Konanykhin, a Russian businessman who lives in the United States, is offering a $1,000,000 reward to officers who arrest Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/mAJsQEtHMG
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) March 2, 2022
Alex Konanykhin then made a point of specifying that he had never intended to pay for the assassination of Vladimir Putin. “Some reports suggest that I promised to pay for Putin’s assassination. This is not correct,” he insisted. However, he acknowledged that “such a result would be cheered by millions of people around the world”, before insisting on the fact that “he believes that Putin must be brought to justice”.
“Putin is not the Russian President because he came to power through a special operation to blow up apartment buildings in Russia and then violate the Constitution by eliminating free elections and assassinating his opponents” also estimated the investor from San Francisco.
However proud of his origins, Alex Konanykhin said “that as an ethnic Russian and a Russian citizen, he considers it his moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia”. These carefully chosen terms refer directly to those used by Vladimir Putin to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Alex Konanyhkhin supports Ukraine
The businessman also said, “I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to resist the onslaught of Putin’s Orda.” “Putin’s Orda” which means Putin’s “horde”, in Russian.
Moreover, the man who was worth $300 million at the time, according to Vice, told Insider he was determined to prove that the war is not supported by many Russians, having offered his own money. “If enough other people make similar statements, it may increase the chances that Putin will be arrested and brought to justice,” he suggested.
Alex Konanykhin recounted having fled Russia in 1992 and not having returned there since, but “does not fear reprisals from the faithful of the Russian president”. “Putin is known to assassinate his opponents. There are millions of them now,” he said.
