Russian billionaire offers $1 million bounty on Putin's head

Russian entrepreneur and former banker Alex Konanykhin showed his true colors this week after offering a $1 million bounty on the head of Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging Russian officers to arrest Europe’s most infamous “war criminal.”

“I promise to pay $1,000,000 to the officer(s) who, complying with their constitutional duty, arrest(s) Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws,” Konanykhin wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week, The Times of Israel reported.

The California-based Russian businessman also noted that he believes it is his “moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia” and vowed to “continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin’s horde.”

Although Konanykhin deleted his original Facebook post – which included a “dead or alive” poster that showed Putin’s face – he later clarified that he was not asking for the Russian president to be killed.

He later reiterated his point on LinkedIn, writing, “Some reports suggest that I promised to pay for the assassination of Putin. It is NOT correct. While such an outcome would be cheered by millions of people around the world, I believe that Putin must be brought to justice."

The businessman also encouraged others to take a stand against Putin and his illegal war in Ukraine, Insider reported.

But Konanykhin isn’t the only billionaire to take a stand against Putin – and more are expected to come out against him as Western sanctions begin to hit their business interests.

According to The Times of Israel, Ukrainian-born Mikhail Fridman, became the first oligarch to publicly condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I do not make political statements, I am a businessman with responsibilities to my many thousands of employees in Russia and Ukraine,” Fridman said in a letter acquired by the FT.

“I am convinced, however, that war can never be the answer. This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years. While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end,” he tells staff at the firm, which has an office in London,” the letter further read.