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by ZACHARY ROGERS | The National Desk
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
WASHINGTON (TND) — A $1 million bounty has been placed on Russian President Vladimir Putin by entrepreneur Alex Konanykhin after the invasion of Ukraine.
Konanykhin posted the bounty on his social media accounts, including LinkedIn.
I promise to pay $1,000,000 to the officer(s) who, complying with their constitutional duty, arrest(s) Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws," Konanykhin says.
Putin is not the Russian president as he came to power as the result of a special operation of blowing up apartment buildings in Russia, then violated the Constitution by eliminating free elections and murdering his opponents.
As an ethnic Russian and a Russia citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia. I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin's Orda.
"Orda" is a Russian word meaning "horde", one which travels place to place pillaging for war or plunder, according to The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia.
Konanykhin's post featured a "wanted poster" for Putin, complete with the words: "Wanted: Dead or alive. Vladimir Putin for mass murder."
Konanykhin apparently has a very contentious history with Russia. A Washington Post article written about him in 1996 details much of Konanykhin's turbulent past with his home country.
The now-entrepreneur reportedly started as an engineering student at the Moscow Physics and Technical Institute, and was later expelled for running a small business during one of his summer vacations.
After being expelled, Konanykhin took full advantage of a "loosening" business climate during the economic reform era of Mikhail Gorbachev, the article says, and within just a few years, he was the head of a $30 million construction enterprise.
By 1991, he was the founder, co-owner, and president of the Russian Exchange Bank, and by 1992, he was reportedly called the "wealthiest person in Russia."
In 1996, while living in America, Konanykhin and his wife were arrested by federal immigration agents for allegedly violating conditions of their American visas, according to the 1996 WaPo report. The arrest was apparently sparked by Russian authorities claiming Konanykhin had embezzled $8 million from Moscow's Russian Exchange Bank, WaPo says.
The New York Times reported in a 2006 article the case went on for weeks, with Konanykhin testifying threats made by some of his corporate aides at the Russian Exchange Bank prompted him to first flee to Hungary, then the Czech Republic, and then New York.
Konanykhin was eventually freed from detention and granted political asylum, which was later revoked but then granted again, according to the NYT.
In 2011, Konanykhin founded TransparentBusiness, which assists companies with managing remote workforces, according to his personal website.
Konanykhin is also currently involved in the social media show "Unicorn Hunters," a "Shark Tank"-esque show which allows "unicorn founders" to pitch their ideas to investors around the globe.