No prominent Russian has reacted so sharply to Putin’s war. Billionaire Oleg Tinkov, who lives abroad, calls Russia’s troops a “shitty army” and demands an end to the “insane war”.
Oleg Tinkov at the 2019 Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.
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The Russian entrepreneur and founder of the fintech bank Tinkoff, Oleg Tinkow, has lost his job. In an Instagram message, he accuses the Russian army of carrying out a “massacre” in Ukraine. He calls for an end to the “insane war” that is of no use to anyone and in which innocent people and soldiers are dying.
Tinkow has lived mainly in London since he was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago. He can only voice his sharp criticism from abroad. Because in Russia the authorities are taking massive action against critics of the Ukraine invasion. They are seen as a disparagement of the Russian army.
Tinkov was one of the first among Russia’s super-rich to criticize the war against Ukraine. As early as February he called the Russian attack “incomprehensible and criminal”. The Russian leadership should rather invest its money in fighting diseases, he demanded. Despite his outspoken criticism of the Kremlin, as a Russian billionaire, Tinkov also fell under the sanctions imposed by Britain on Russia’s financial elite.
In his Instagram post, Tinkov takes a hard stance on the Russian army and Vladimir Putin’s leadership circle. “The generals, having woken up from their intoxication, have realized that they have a shitty army,” writes Tinkov. But the army can’t be good if the whole country is stuck in the dirt, “in nepotism, toadyism and subservience,” he criticized. He called the war pointless. “90 percent of Russians are against the war,” he claimed. Only a minority supported the war. “But ten percent of every country are idiots.”
Giving Putin a chance to exit
In English, Tinkow addressed the West: Putin should be given a face-saving opportunity to get out of the war. This is the only way the “massacre” can be ended.
According to Tinkov, the Russian elite is unhappy about the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow. Kremlin officials are “shocked” that they and their children will no longer be able to spend their summer vacations in the Mediterranean. “Entrepreneurs are trying to salvage what’s left of their property,” Tinkow continues.
The criticism brought Tinkow a lot of approval on Instagram. By Wednesday morning, almost 100,000 users had “liked” his entry. In addition, the post was commented on almost 20,000 times within a very short time. However, Instagram is blocked in Russia. The network can only be reached there with a special VPN connection.
Founder of a flagship fintech bank
The flamboyant entrepreneur Tinkow made his first capital importing electronics before founding a brewery under his name. He finally became a billionaire by founding an internet bank. It is considered a model fintech company.
The Tinkoff-Bank distances itself from the criticism of its major shareholder. It was said that this “private opinion” would not be commented on. The founder of the company is no longer an employee of the bank and he has not been to Russia for a long time. Tinkow’s family trust still owns just over 35 percent of the bank.