Russian businessman puts $1 million bounty on Putin’s head

(CMR) Russian businessman Alex Konanykhin has put a $1 million bounty on Russian President Vladimir Putin's head, calling on the military to arrest him as a war criminal.

In a LinkedIn post that has since been taken down, entrepreneur Alex Konanykhim reportedly posted a photo of Putin and the words “Wanted: Dead or alive. Vladimir Putin for mass murder.”

“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,” wrote Konanykhin on LinkedIn, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“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 [Russian] Constitution by eliminating free elections and murdering his opponents.”

Konanykhin is a former banker and the current CEO of TransparentBusiness, a software company based in San Francisco, California.

He has since denied that he put a bounty on Putin's life.

“Some reports suggest that I promised to pay for the assassination of Putin. It is NOT correct. While such an outcome would be cheered by millions of people around the world, I believe that Putin must be brought to justice,” Konanykhim said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

He posted a similar message on Facebook, along with the “Wanted” photo, promising $1,000,000 to officers who arrested Putin, but the social media platform banned it. In a follow up post, he wrote his original message without the photo.

“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 wrote.

“I'm dismayed and outraged by the onslaught and war crimes Russia is committing in Ukraine. Putin cannot admit defeat, or he risks to lose his power, which would almost certainly lead to his arrest. He has no legitimacy of an elected leader, as he eliminated free and fair elections, the news media, and opposition a long time ago, so his power rests solely on fear he instills in his subordinates,” Konanykhin told Fortune. “He must be arrested before he makes an irreversible decision which may cost lives to many people.”