Russian business tycoon Oleg Tinkov attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia, June 7, 2019.
Maxim Shemetov | Reuters
Sanctioned Russian digital bank founder Oleg Tinkov on Tuesday blasted his country’s “insane” war against Ukraine, urging western nations to give Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin “a clear exit to save face and stop this massacre.”
Tinkov also claimed in an impassioned Instagram post that “90% of Russians are AGAINST this war!” He also argued that the remaining 10% were “idiots” and that the Russian army was exposed as “sh—y”. may be.
The screed of the founder of TCS Group Holding and digital Tinkoff Bank came weeks after the UK sanctioned Tinkov and froze his personal assets in the UK. The UK has also sanctioned a number of other Russian individuals and entities.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, 54-year-old Tinkov’s fortune was estimated at more than $4.42 billion.
But Forbes reported last month that he had lost his billionaire status as his stake in Tinkoff Bank plummeted in value since November.
“I don’t see ONE beneficiary of this insane war!” Tinkov wrote in Russian in his Instagram post. “Innocent people and soldiers are dying. The generals woke up from a hangover and realized they had a shitty army.”
“And how is the army supposed to be good when everything else in the country is crappy and dirty due to nepotism.”
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“Kremlin officials are shocked that not only they, but also their children do not go to the Mediterranean in the summer,” Tinkov wrote. “Businessmen are trying to salvage the remains of property.”
“Of course there are idiots drawing Z – the symbol in Russia for supporting the invasion of Ukraine – but idiots in every country [are] 10%.”
“Dear ‘collective West’, please give Mr. Putin a clear exit to save face and stop this massacre,” Tinkov wrote in conclusion. “Please be more sensible and humanitarian.”
Tinkov pleaded guilty to tax fraud Oct. 1 in a U.S. criminal case in which federal prosecutors said he filed a false tax return when he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2013.
As part of his sentence, he agreed to pay more than $500 million in penalties to settle this case, which was more than double the amount he had tried to get taxes paid to the US Treasury to avoid when he renounced his citizenship and attempted to hide large stock gains from the sale of shares in TCS.
Tinkov successfully resisted extradition from the UK to the US after his indictment in 2019.
“In public records, Tinkov has disclosed that he is undergoing a UK-based intensive treatment regimen for acute myeloid leukemia and graft-versus-host disease, leaving him immunocompromised and unable to travel safely for the foreseeable future,” he said the US Department of Justice in October.