This Russian Businessman Puts a Price on Vladimir Putin’s Head for 1 Million Dollars

What if the overthrow of Vladimir Putin came from within Russia?

When Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, he probably did not imagine that the Western world would be able to show such unity. Putin was rather betting on disunion of America and European countries. This did not happen, and NATO seems to be stronger than ever in the face of Vladimir Putin's Russia.

The economic and financial sanctions taken by America and the European Union towards Russia aim at bringing the Russian economy to its knees so that Putin will not be able to finance this war. Money is the sinews of war after all.

While waiting for this to happen, if tempted to do so, the West is also banking on Putin being overthrown from within. After all, it is the Russian people who will pay the highest price for the war Vladimir Putin wants. Indeed, the sanctions against Russia are going to hurt the Russian people who were already living in extremely difficult conditions before this war.

Some of the big questions are:

• How long will the Russian people be ready to pay the consequences of a war they do not want against their Ukrainian brother?

• How long will the people be willing to pay for a war that only aims to feed Vladimir Putin's nostalgia for the Soviet era?

• How long will the Russian oligarchs close to Putin's regime accept to see their fortune collapse because of Putin's choices they do not share?

I do not have the answers to these questions, but America and the European Union must have this in mind.

If Iran has been able to hold out for so long in the face of American economic sanctions, it is above all because the people are behind its leaders. This is less the case in Russia where we see more and more demonstrators against this war in Ukraine. Several thousands of demonstrators have already been arrested for having dared to express their disagreement with this war. The protest will only grow in Russia.

In addition to this risk of popular revolt, there is also a possibility that oligarchs and other rich Russian businessmen will try to remove Putin from the equation. These people may be afraid of Putin in a general way, but they may not accept forever to see their fortune drop every week by 10 to 20% because of Putin's obstinacy to lead this war in Ukraine.

The first sign in this sense comes from the Russian businessman Alex Konanykhin who promised 1 million dollars for Vladimir Putin's head in a Facebook post on March 2, 2022:

The first post of Alex Konanykhin was banned by Facebook because he had illustrated his message with a “dead or alive” poster of Vladimir Putin. Questioned by different media, Alex Konanykhin specified that this million dollars would come from his funds. He even thinks that his initiative could be emulated and that others could come and add money from their pocket to increase the premium.

After this release, Alex Konanykhin is well aware that his life is more than ever threatened in Russia. However, if he can afford such an outing, it is because he has been living outside Russia since 1992. This ex-banker is a political refugee in America where he can use his right to freedom of expression. For him, it is a duty to offer help to Ukraine to resist the onslaught of Putin's horde:

“As an ethnic Russian and a Russian citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of the Russia. I will continue my assistance to Ukraine in its heroic efforts to withstand the onslaught of Putin’s Orda.”

Head of a $300 million fortune and among the 50 most influential tech bosses in New York, Alex Konanykhin is not an oligarch directly affected by the sanctions on Russia. If oligarchs were to have the same ideas as him, they would not do so in a public way or they would probably be killed by the regime in Moscow. However, this shows us that such ideas could germinate in the heads of those who are going to pay the full price of Vladimir Putin's madness.

Since this post, Vladimir Putin had Facebook banned in Russia so that the Kremlin could control even more finely what is said to the Russian population concerning this war in Ukraine. A war in Ukraine that many Russians might not even know about yet.

Nevertheless, even if Putin continues to push his propaganda messages to his population, he will have a hard time hiding the economic consequences of the war he is leading in Ukraine. Will this eventually lead to his downfall?

This is probably what will be at stake in the months to come.

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Some reading

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• 3 Reasons Why Bitcoin Will Not Allow Vladimir Putin and Russian Oligarchs To Escape US Sanctions. The American authorities know very well that Bitcoin will not be enough to allow Russia to get out of the economic and financial sanctions.