Oleksandr Ozhelsky, 22, the son of Alfa Group founder Mikhail Fridman, demanded that Ukraine remove sanctions from him because he has always opposed the war and considers himself a Ukrainian. He stated this in a video message.
Ozhelsky said that he left Russia on February 24, has not returned since then and does not plan to return. “I left a lot – my friends, my business. And I left it because I value my freedom more,” he said. According to him, he took part in pro-Ukrainian actions in London and he has photo and video evidence.
“As you can see, I don’t live in a mansion, because I live on the means that I have. I don't understand why this is happening, why everything I've done so far is at risk because of a bunch of damn bureaucrats. I believe this decision should be reversed. I don't deserve these sanctions. I consider myself a Ukrainian, I have several relatives there whom I used to visit almost every year. I don’t believe that I won’t be able to do this now,” Ozhelsky said.
On October 20, Ukraine imposed sanctions on more than 2,000 Russians, including Fridman's children.
Earlier, Friedman (as of September 2022, an estimate of his personal fortune is $13.3 billion) condemned the war and announced that he would transfer $10 million to Ukrainian refugees through a personal charitable foundation. Friedman's investment company LetterOne in March 2022 announced a donation of $150 million to "victims of the war in Ukraine." But this did not save him from EU and UK sanctions.
In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Friedman was ready to transfer $ 1 billion to Ukraine, hoping to achieve thereby easing sanctions. However, Friedman himself denies selfish motives.
After the imposition of sanctions, Friedman complained that he was stuck in London without money: “I don’t know how to live on. I should probably start cleaning the house myself. It's good that when I was a student, I lived in a hostel and shared a room with four neighbors. And yet, after 35 years, it is an unexpected experience.”