Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkov denounces ‘insane war’ in Ukraine

A Russian tycoon sanctioned by the West over an attack of Russia on Ukraine decried Moscow’s “carnage” in its neighboring country and asked Western countries to help end this “mad” conflict. Oleg Tinkov, 54, claimed on the Internet on Tuesday that 90 percent of his compatriots were against President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine and referred to the Russian forces as a “s**** army”. Criticism was still the greatest by a Russian magnate against the war.

Tinkov, who founded Tinkoff Bank, Russia’s largest credit card issuer, has been based outside his home country for the last several years. “There is not a single beneficiary of this mad war! Innocent people and troops are dying.” the businessman wrote in an Instagram post, urging the West to give Putin a decent way out.

The Russian leader had ordered his troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what he called a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” the country.

Amid a global and national outcry, Putin also sought to stifle dissent over the war, approving a law that set jail sentences of up to 15 years for publishing “fake news” about the country’s military. The conflict, currently in its eighth week, has left thousands dead and displaced more than 12 million people to Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.