The invasion prompted Western nations to impose restrictive sanctions on Russian individuals and banking institutions. And while a handful of oligarchs — those billionaires who have made much of their fortune under the watchful eye of Putin — have called for peace, many have remained silent while nations cut off their access to markets and trade. On March 2, The U.S. Das Justice Department announced it would work with the European Union and other allies for a special task force targeting their yachts, jets, real estate and other assets abroad. In addition, the US Treasury Department on Thursday announced a series of new sanctions against hundreds of members of the Russian State Duma, dozens of Russian defense contractors and the CEO of Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution. Officials say their intention is to pressure those who have benefited from Putin’s rule, and possibly to put internal pressure on Russia to scale back or call off the offensive in Ukraine. Traditional financial safe havens like Switzerland and Monaco even announced their own measures targeting those close to Putin, and nations far from conflict, like Australia and Japan, have also taken steps to freeze finances .
The impact of the sanctions has spilled over into the business and sporting worlds as the assets of members of Putin’s inner circle have been frozen.
Here’s a look at some of the pro-Kremlin oligarchs who have commented on the war and those who have remained silent.
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Putin who made his fortune in the aluminum business, was sanctioned on March 10 by the UK government, which reduced Deripaska’s estimated fortune to £2 billion and shares in the En+ Group, a major energy company and owner, noted one of the world’s largest aluminum producers.
Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Deripaska said on the messaging app Telegram: “Peace is very important! Negotiations must start as soon as possible!”
As the ruble collapsed and Russia’s stock market failed to open for trading, Deripaska said he wanted “clarifications and understandable comments on economic policy for the next three months,” adding that the central bank’s decision to raise interest rates drastically and forcing companies to sell foreign currency was the “first test of who is actually going to pay for this banquet.” The US investigated him for money laundering and charged him with “threatening the lives of business competitors, illegally wiretapping a government official and participating in extortion and racketeering,” according to the Treasury Department, which added, “Deripaska has said he doesn’t do it.” separate from the Russian state.”
Mikhail Fridman
Mikhail Fridman, chairman of conglomerate Alfa Group, has a net worth of $11.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. He was recently sanctioned by the European Union, which said he “managed to maintain strong ties with Vladimir Putin’s government and has been described as a leading Russian financier and enabler of Putin’s inner circle.” who was born in western Ukraine wrote days after the invasion in a letter to staff that he wanted the “bloodshed” to stop.
“My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favorite city. But I’ve also spent much of my life as a Russian citizen building and growing businesses – a tragedy for both of them,” Fridman wrote.
“This crisis will take lives and harm two nations that have been brothers for hundreds of years. While a solution seems frighteningly far away, I can only join those whose fervent desire is an end to the bloodshed,” he added in the letter, which was made available by his office. The Financial Times was the first to report the letter.
Friedman called the violence a “tragedy” and added “war can never be the answer” – but he stopped criticizing Putin directly.
“If I make a political statement that is unacceptable in Russia, it will have a very significant impact on the company, our customers, our creditors and our stakeholders,” Fridman said.
Roman Abramovich
Another oligarch who has publicly expressed his dismay at the crisis but has not criticized Russia is Roman Abramovich, owner of Premier League club Chelsea, who has moved to sell the team amid his own sanctions. Abramovich “is one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s who featured prominently under Putin,” according to the UK, but he has always denied any such connection in the Ukraine”.
The European Union last week sanctioned Abramovich, citing his “long and close ties to Vladimir Putin” and noting that his “privileged access” to the president helped him “preserve his considerable wealth.”
Well-known oligarchs have kept quiet
Many Putin allies and members of his inner circle have not publicly commented on the war, perhaps underscoring Fridman’s comments that questioning the Russian leader has consequences. (slight adjustments for the flow)
Western nations’ sanctions against Russian government officials and leaders continue to mount, including those against: (OR: Others facing Western sanctions include:)
- Igor Sechin, CEO of energy company Rosneft – a superyacht owned by Sechin was recently impounded, according to the French Treasury Ministry.
- Andrey Kostin, Chairman of VTB Bank.
- Alexei Miller, CEO of the energy company Gazprom.
- Sergey Chemezov, head of the state defense company Rostec.
- Igor Shuvalov, Chairman of Vnesheconombank.
- Nikolai Tokarev, President of the Russian state-owned pipeline company Transneft.
- Gennady Timchenko, founder and owner of Volga Group – an investment firm with a large stake in Russian gas producer Novatek.
- Arkady Rotenberg, owner of Mostotrest, the Russian construction company that helped build a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula to Russia. The Rotenbergs are close friends of Putin.
All have publicly remained silent about the war. CNN has reached out to each individual for comment.
The Russian elite speaks out
However, comments from other high-profile figures indicate that disapproval of the war may run deep within the nation’s elite.
Evgeny Lebedev – the son of Alexander Lebedev, who describes himself as an ex-oligarch – wrote a public statement to Putin in the British newspaper Evening Standard, which he owns. “As a citizen of Russia, I ask you to stop the Russians from killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters,” Lebedev said.
“As a British citizen, I ask you to save Europe from war. As a Russian patriot, I ask you to prevent further young Russian soldiers from dying unnecessarily. As a citizen of the world, I ask you to save the world from annihilation,” he added.
Vladimir Potanin, the country’s richest businessman and president of metals giant Norilsk Nickel, implored Russia not to take the assets of Western companies fleeing the country experience,” he said in a message published on Norilsk Nickel’s Telegram account last week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was sanctioned by the US government on March 3 as a “leading propagandist” of the Russian Federation. Also on Friday, Peskov’s wife and two of his adult children – including daughter Elizaveta Peskova – were sanctioned by the US.
Peskova, who has more than 180,000 followers on Instagram, shared an anti-war message on her verified account with the hashtag #нетвойне, meaning “no to war,” the day after the invasion began.
A few hours later, the message was deleted.
CNN’s Charles Riley, Evan Perez, Emiko Jozuka, Niamh Kennedy, George Ramsay, Vasco Cotovio, Nathan Hodge, Mike Callahan, Maria Angelova, Mariya Knight, and Anna Chernova contributed to this report.