A Russian businessman has placed a million-dollar bounty on Vladimir Putin as a part of his "moral duty" to bring the Russian president to justice.
Alex Konanykhin, an entrepreneur and former banker that lives in the United States after being granted political asylum. was the "wealthiest person in Russia" in 1992, NBC News reports.
In his original post to his social media accounts, Konanykhin said he wanted Putin "dead or alive" for his "mass murder" of Ukranians. The post has since been taken down and Konanykhin clarified he meant to promise to pay officers for Putin's arrest rather than his assassination.
"While such an outcome [assassination] would be cheered by millions of people around the world, I believe that Putin must be brought to justice," Konanykhin said.
Konanykhin's post on LinkedIn and Facebook has gone viral, placing a target on Putin's back.
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"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," he wrote.
"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."
Konanykhin, whose profile picture shows him wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, says Putin is a war criminal under Russian and international laws and should be arrested.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine last week, so far killing more than 2000 civilians and destroying hospitals, kindergartens and homes.
There have been reports of many Russians standing against the actions of their own country, with many protests in the capital of Moscow telling Russians to go home.
According to Aljazeera, on February 27 5250 anti-war protesters had been arrested since Putin launched the invasion.
There have also been many reports of Russian soldiers in Ukraine surrendering on the battlefield as they fight a war they do not want.
A Pentagon official said Russian troops are surrendering en masse and in some cases, soldiers have deliberately punched holes in their vehicles' gas tanks presumably to avoid combat, The New York Times reported.
