Russian oligarch and real estate entrepreneur Vladislav Doronin has publicly condemned it Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukrainein a statement to DailyMail.com.
Billionaire businessman and former longtime friend of supermodel Naomi Campbell spoke after a small group of protesters gathered in front of his newly opened luxury hotel Midtown Manhattan – Aman New York – over the weekend.
“I condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and fervently wish for peace,” Doronin said on Monday.
“I was born in the USSR, a union that no longer exists, which included both Russia and Ukraine. I left in 1986 before its dissolution, and therefore I was never a Russian citizen.
Russian real estate builder Vladislav Doronin, ex-boyfriend of supermodel Naomi Campbell (right), condemns Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Doronin speaks amid calls by protesting Russian oligarchs to take action against Putin and the war
“As an international businessman with teams located all over the globe,” Doronin continued, “I have always embraced a culture of inclusion and peace.
Doronin, 59, is the owner and chairman of Aman Resorts, which plans to open a luxury hotel and “city haven” at the former Museum of Modern Art in the spring, offering a $ 100,000 membership to a private club that includes a three-story spa with 25 -meter indoor pool, sauna and steam baths, as well as a terrace with cabin, deck chair and fireplace.
Peter Zinkovetsky, a real estate lawyer in New York from Ukraine who has a family hiding in a bomb shelter in Kharkov, helped organize Saturday’s rally, which led several dozen people from a larger Times Square protest to picket the property near the corner. Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.
“This is the best property you can get,” Zinkovetsky told DailyMail.com hours after the protest.
“Every oligarch must take a stand, do you support the war in Ukraine, do you support the Russian regime?” He added.
“If the owner of such a large corporation can’t answer such a simple question, it speaks for itself.”
Doronin, 59, is the owner and chairman of Aman Resorts, whose newest Aman New York hotel will open this spring at Manhattan’s iconic Crown Building.
The resort offers a $ 100,000 private club membership, including a three-story spa with 25-meter indoor pool, sauna and steam bath, and a terrace with cabin, bed and fireplace.
Doronin spoke after protesters from a larger Times Square rally gathered to picket the property near the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street over the weekend. Pictured: Protesters in New York
Doronin is also the CEO and chairman of the US-based international development company OKO Group, which has locations in Miami and Manhattan.
The company currently has several development projects, including Aman New York, and two residential and one commercial facility in Miami.
Protesters planned to gather in front of one of Doronin’s properties in Miami on Monday before he issued a statement against the war.
“It was because of the protest,” Zinkovetsky insisted, although Doronin did not admit that his comments were related.
“He had no comment before. This is exactly my opinion that after you press with the Russian oligarchs, with the Russian companies, they will have to enter the protocol, just as Doronin did. The whole Ukrainian people thanked him for taking the position.
Michael Mudrick, a real estate agent in Miami in western Ukraine, helped plan today’s protest.
Doronin is also the CEO and chairman of the US-based international development company OKO Group, which is also in the process of developing commercial and residential properties in Miami. Pictured: Una Residences (left) apartment tower overlooking Biscayne Bay and Missoni Baja (right)
Doronin is expected to open 830 Brickell, Miami – a first-class office space in the heart of Miami’s financial center
Doronin has been in a relationship with Russian model Kristina Romanova (right) since 2014
“We are grateful you did the right thing,” he told DailyMail.com.
The organizers are considering new goals.
“We do not want to hurt the Russians who do business in the United States. That’s not what this is about, “Zinkovetsky said. “It’s about the Russian oligarchs who support this war and Putin’s machine.
“We just want the oligarchs to come out and take a stand. If they support Putin, this war, the invasion, then there is no reason for them to be allowed to do business in the United States or anywhere else in the civilized world.
In his release, Doronin said he was born in the former Soviet Union and left in 1986 and was therefore never a Russian citizen.
“As an international businessman with teams located all over the globe, I have always embraced a culture of inclusion and peace,” he continued.
“In this way, together we not only celebrate many cultures, but we do so with a goal and a united voice that has harmony, goodwill and well-being in its heart.”
Doronin’s comments came after two Russian billionaires became the first powerful oligarchs to call for an end to the conflict.
Mikhail Friedman, a native of western Ukraine, and Oleg Deripaska condemned Putin’s invasion, calling for peace talks “as soon as possible” between the two countries in an unusual intervention by Russia’s leading business elite.
Other Russian oligarchs, Mikhail Friedman (left), who was born in western Ukraine, and Oleg Deripaska (right) also condemned Putin’s invasion.
People gather for a rally in support of Ukraine across the street from United Nations headquarters as the UN General Assembly convenes for an emergency session to consider a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in New York on Monday.
Friedman, co-founder of Russia’s largest private bank, Alpha, and controls private investment company LetterOne, has called for an end to the “bloodshed”.
The 57-year-old, who was ranked as the 128th richest man in the world by Forbes in 2021, also said the war was a “tragedy” for people on both sides and told LetterOne officials in a letter that the conflict leads to a wedge between the two eastern Slavic peoples of Russia and Ukraine, which have been brothers for centuries.
He wrote: “I was born in western Ukraine and lived there until I was 17 years old. My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favorite city.
“But I also spent much of my life as a citizen of Russia, building and developing business.
“I am deeply attached to the Ukrainian and Russian people and I see the current conflict as a tragedy for both of us.”
Meanwhile, billionaire Deripaska – who is the founder of Russian aluminum giant Rusal, in which he still owns a stake in the parent company En + Group – used a Telegram post to call for peace talks to begin “as soon as possible”.
The 54-year-old simply said, “Peace is very important.”
The so-called Russian oligarchs, who once had significant influence over President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, are facing economic chaos after the West imposed heavy sanctions on Russia over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.