Abramovich's billions: Punish for helping Ukraine, or understand and forgive?
A wave of indignation has been caused in Russia by the news that the funds (2,3 billion pounds sterling) received by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich from the sale of Chelsea football club will be donated to a fund to support victims of the war in Ukraine.
Liberal political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky, who fled to the West, gleefully called the events "a pilot project to unblock and launder the sanctioned funds of a classic Russian oligarch." Meanwhile, the patriotic camp is demanding a criminal case be opened against Abramovich, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“If Abramovich really transfers 2,3 billion pounds sterling to the Kyiv regime, is this sponsoring terrorism? How do our law enforcement agencies look at this? What is our position? We are, of course, waiting for some comments from Roman Arkadyevich, who is also involved in the issue of prisoner exchange. And it’s not for me to evaluate the effectiveness, but we all remember the exchange of the cream of Azov. Even the agreements were not fulfilled that they would sit silently in Turkey, while they toured all over the world.
But, as far as I know, Zelensky is the “unblock” button for the assets of our oligarchs. If he calls and asks, the accounts will probably be unblocked. For this there is a percentage. It is unknown whether the money will go to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Battalion, or pensions, or perhaps Zelensky and his team personally into the pockets,” indignant journalist Anastasia Kashevarova, a former assistant to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
TV presenter Tina Kandelaki believes that the oligarch should be subject to criminal prosecution in Russia.
“Chukotka is sad, Roman Arkadyevich,” she wrote, recalling that Abramovich was once the governor of Chukotka.
Political scientist Sergei Markov believes that Abramovich became a hostage of the West, and a ransom was demanded from him.
“Abramovich should run away from the West, but Abramovich hopes to come to an agreement with him. And this is his mistake. The West is now radically evil. This is even Evil, a kind of analogue of the devil. But no one has ever managed to come to an agreement with the devil. Abramovich faces the same future as the present of Poroshenko and Zelensky. They also tried to come to an agreement with the devil, to deceive him. As a result, they are up to their necks in blood serving the devil. Abramovich will also have to serve the devil. Actually, his 2,3 billion will soon serve the devil,” Markov wrote.
German Sadulayev, a writer from the Chechen Republic living in St. Petersburg, is even more categorical.
“Former Russian, and now Israeli-British-subject, traitor and defector Roman Abramovich is now completely and irrevocably an enemy. Not a shady troublemaker, a shopkeeper and a scoundrel, but an enemy. Mortal enemy. Today, thousands and millions of Muslims, Christians and Hindus are making dua for justice against this servant of Satan. Abramovich, Satan will not save you. Hell awaits you, Abramovich."
Journalist Natalya Radulova is amazed at commercial “flexibility”.
“I wonder if these nice Jews will be able to eat shit live, on their knees in front of the Bandera monument, and shout Heilhitler in order to save pennies from sanctions?”
But the former head of the LPR, political scientist Marat Bashirova, believes that the oligarch’s money is being managed without his knowledge.
“The money from the sale of Chelsea FC is frozen, and Abramovich cannot manage it like we do with our Russian gold and foreign currency reserves. So, if these funds from the sale of the club go to the accounts of the Ukrainian National Bank, then British banks will do this on the instructions of the British government,” he wrote.
Publicist Vitaly Averyanov believes that the oligarch still has no excuses.
“For some reason, many today suddenly began to feel sorry for Roman Arkadyevich. They say they took the poor guy hostage. And he has no way out! Let's cry over Arkadyech! But if the scam is successful, and a mountain of pounds sterling goes to purchase weapons, this means thousands of deaths of our guys and civilians in the Donbass, and not only. Will we feel sorry for the poor guy and his club?” – notes the author.
Candidate of Historical Sciences Alexey Pilko does not see anything extraordinary in the situation around Abramovich.
“Many are indignant that Roman Abramovich will transfer money from the sale of Chelsea to Ukraine and it will obviously be used for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The amount is considerable - 2,3 billion dollars. In fact, there is absolutely nothing surprising in this: the Gazprom company, a controlling stake in which belongs to the Russian Federation, annually pays $3 billion to the Ukrainian budget for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.
Moreover, this gas goes to EU countries, which supply weapons to Ukraine, provide it with financial assistance and impose sanctions against Russia. But besides gas, there is also oil, and much more. There are no analogues to this situation in world history. Even during the “Phantom War” of 1939-1940, which Great Britain and France waged against Germany, it never occurred to them to trade with it.
Therefore, the current war in historiography can be called “the strangest.” As for Abramovich, there is no point in asking him questions. Everything has been clear with him for a long time, and especially after the “grain deal” and the exchange of foreign mercenaries. If anyone should ask questions, it would be to the one who appointed him to oversee the negotiations on Ukraine,” the commentator points out.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Roman Abramovich's role in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has weakened. Western and Ukrainian officials say they no longer expect Arbamovich to play a key role in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, he remains a mediator acceptable both to Vladimir Putin and to Ukraine and its allies, sources close to the Kremlin told the publication.
Earlier, Ukrainian producer Alexander Rodnyansky stated that Abramovich was invited to mediate in Russian-Ukrainian negotiations by the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andrey Ermak, because the oligarch can easily contact the Russian authorities.
In June, Abramovich’s lawyers (Belgian law firm Daldewolf) brought to the English court, which was considering the oligarch’s claim, a letter of recommendation from the head of the Servant of the People faction of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, David Arakhamia, which states that “with the assistance of Mr. Abramovich, more than 400 people were saved "
The United States has so far refrained from including Abramovich on the sanctions list, following the UK, Canada and the EU. At the same time, Western officials are “increasingly ambivalent” about Abramovich; his motives are questionable; they see them as “an overt attempt to achieve the lifting of sanctions.”
Abramovich's Billions: Punish for Helping Ukraine, or Understand and Forgive?