TEL AVIV - Russian-Israeli oligarch Leonid Nevzlin announced on Tuesday that he planned to give up his Russian passport in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Everything that Putin touches dies," Nevzlin wrote in a Facebook post. "I am against the war. I am against the occupation. I am against the genocide of the Ukrainian people."

Nevzlin was among the first prominent Russian oligarchs to establish self-imposed exile in Israel, fleeing what he has described as a campaign of politically-motivated persecution by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2003, Nevzlin fled Russia for Israel amid a Kremlin-backed investigation into his Yukos oil company. Nevzlin co-owned Yukos with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was imprisoned by a Moscow court on charges of fraud, and, later, of embezzlement and money laundering.

Israel has refused requests for Nevzlin's extradition to face charges in Russia of murder, attempted murder and financial crimes.

Nevzlin has denied all charges and has said they are attempts by Putin to silence him and other critics.

"I was one of the first to be hit by Putin. He threw my friends in jails, and killed some of them," wrote Nevzlin. "I have spent almost twenty years outside Russia, but that is exactly what has allowed me to see its process of rotting and decomposing."

In the years following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a new wave of wealthy Russian citizens, including former Chelsea Premier League soccer team owner and longtime Putin supporter Roman Abramovich, took up Israeli citizenship in part to avoid the resulting U.S. sanctions. Many continue to have business and financial ties in Russia and have been cautious against publicly criticizing the war.

Sanctioned billionaire banker Mikhail Fridman has described the war as a "tragedy" and that war "can never be the answer." But in a news conference with journalists in London, he said he would not directly criticize Putin's invasion of Ukraine so as to avoid reprisals against his employees.

Nevzlin wrote on Tuesday that his compatriots cheered the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

"Thank goodness some of them didn't make it to this day," he wrote. "The day when the Motherland, whose fresh passports they kissed, became a fascist state."

https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Oligarch-renounces-Russian-citizenship-saying-16988610.php

GodHatesBigots:

"Everything that Putin touches dies," Nevzlin wrote in a Facebook post. "I am against the war. I am against the occupation. I am against the genocide of the Ukrainian people."

blamingthedevil:


Putin's Nairaland Cheerleaders and Hallelujah Boys pushing him to oblivion

blamingthedevil:


Putin's Nairaland Cheerleaders and Hallelujah Boys pushing him to oblivion

Comradewhy:
W.T.F
How come they don't agree with him,is that not enough to pass a message to everyone that Putin is alone on this?
I hope he retraces his step,because you can't just go against the will of your people who appointed you.
Putin right now:

OBALOLA55:
SOMEONE IS GOING TO TAKE OUT PUTIN BEFORE THE END OF APRIL


YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

Kelvin3476:
LIES BRO. I HEARD IT BE4

OBALOLA55:
I DID NOT MENTION ESN TOUTS HERE

Kelvin3476:
DIDN'T U LIE ? U HEARD IT SOMEWHERE ELSE AND U ARE HERE... U ARE FROM OZUZUWA REPUBLIC 4 A REASON

RightToReject:
Although I am against Putin's invasion of Ukraine, his justifiable reasons for doing so notwithstanding, someone like Leonid Nevzlin, however, ought not to be taken seriously by any sane and informed person. Only those who are either outright foolish or ignorant of his person, clique, and company (Yukos oil) and their activities even before Putin's first presidency will side with him.

Yokos oil and its American associate in crime then (Enron Corporation) ruined many individuals and companies globally with their nefarious activities.

OBALOLA55:
I DONT EXCHANGE WORDS WITH ESN TERRORISTS


FOR YOUR INFO, ABUM NWA AFO AND I SUPPORT UKRAINE

OBALOLA55:
I DID NOT MENTION ESN TOUTS HERE

Kelvin3476:
I spit on ur ancestors. Why denie ur OZUZUWA REPUBLIC ? SKULLERS MAKE UNA COME SEE AS UR BROTHERS THE DENY THEIR OZUZUWA ANCESTORS

Oghene1st:
This man is not a prominent Oligarch but just a Russian billionaire. Prominent oligarchs of the Putin era include Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Alisher Usmanov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Mikhail Fridman, Dmitry Rybolovlev, Vladimir Potanin, Pyotr Aven, and Vitaly Malkin.

OBALOLA55:
ONWERO IFE IMA

Oghene1st:
This man is not a prominent Oligarch but just a Russian billionaire. Prominent oligarchs of the Putin era include Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Alisher Usmanov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Mikhail Fridman, Dmitry Rybolovlev, Vladimir Potanin, Pyotr Aven, and Vitaly Malkin.