“Waking up with a hangover, the generals realized they had a shitty army.
The words are strong, violent.
All the more powerful since they were pronounced by a Russian oligarch.
On Tuesday billionaire Oleg Tinkov, founder of online bank Tinkoff, a big FinTech success of recent years and Russia's second largest credit card issuer, slammed an "absurd" Russian war in Ukraine and called on the West to help put an end to this "massacre".
“90% of Russians are AGAINST this war”, even assured the person concerned, 54, on his Instagram account, stressing that he does not see “ANY beneficiary of this absurd war” where “people and innocent soldiers are dying”.
"And how can the military be any good if everything else in the country is crap steeped in nepotism and servility?"
“, he wondered while the Russian power continues to evoke a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” its neighbor to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
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A post shared by Oleg Tinkov (@olegtinkov)
This is one of the strongest criticisms issued by a Russian businessman about the Russian offensive launched in Ukraine on February 24.
“Dear West, please leave Mr. Putin a clear way out so he can save face and end this massacre.
Please be more rational and humanitarian,” he added in English in his message.
Oleg Tinkov, who therefore built his fortune in the banking sector with the Tinkoff bank founded in 2006 after launching restaurants and brasseries, is also known for his investment in the world of cycling.
In 2006, he created Tinkoff Restaurants, which later became Tinkoff Credit Systems.
In 2009, the team entered the ProTour under the name Katusha.
Ousted from the team, he will return to the world of the "little queen" in 2012 by becoming co-sponsor of the Saxo Bank team.
The greatest riders will wear the colors of the team, like Peter Sagan.
2016 will mark the end of the adventure.
A colorful billionaire, Tinkov has been going through some turbulent times.
He announced in early 2020 that he had leukemia, shortly after being arrested in London, the United States accusing him of tax evasion and requesting his extradition.
He was later released on bail and underwent treatment in London.
Although he left the post of CEO of the Tinkoff bank in 2020, he is targeted by British sanctions decided in connection with the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
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A post shared by Oleg Tinkov (@olegtinkov)
For its part, the Tinkoff bank issued a press release stressing that it did not want to comment on this “personal opinion” of Mr. Tinkov and recalling that the billionaire no longer made decisions concerning the operations of the companies of the Tinkoff brand.
“He is not an employee of Tinkoff, he has not been in Russia for a long time and he has been dealing with matters of his health for the past few years,” the statement said.
