Oleg Tinkov, former owner of Tinkov Saxo, has returned his Russian citizenship following the invasion of Ukraine.

In a now-deleted Instagram post (opens in new tab), Tinkov stated that he "cannot be associated with a fascist state that starts wars with its peaceful neighbors and kills innocent people every day."

Tinkoff has expressed his opposition to the war since the early stages of the invasion in the spring. At the time, Tinkoff told the New York Times that he was forced to sell his 35% stake in Tinkoff Bank for a fraction of its true value because the Kremlin threatened to nationalize the bank.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Tinkoff said his previous posts "disappeared" before reaffirming that he had ended his citizenship.

"My post yesterday mysteriously disappeared. Must be Kremlin trolls. Tinkov wrote.

"After Russia invaded Ukraine and started killing innocent people there, I decided to renounce my Russian citizenship. I cannot be associated with Putin's fascist regime."

Tinkov also stated that he had instructed his lawyers to begin the process of removing his name from the Tinkoff Bank.

"Additionally, I have hired a lawyer to strip the Tinkoff brand from the bank. I do not want my brand or name associated with a bank that collaborates with murderers and blood relatives." Tinkoff Bank must change its name, as Oliver Hughes and Stanislav Bliznyk told me and the public after they 'agreed with the Kremlin government' and removed me from the bank in March. What changed?

"You managed to take over and now you are running the business (which, by the way, is crap), but that's a good thing - there will be less money to go to war with Putin," he added in Russian." You have a new boss (Vladimir Potanin) and you are in control there, so change it to Potanin Bank: ...... My name should not be associated with fascism."

In April, Tinkov sold his stake in Tinkoff Bank to Potanin, Russia's richest man, deputy prime minister in the 1990s, and co-founder of the mining company Norilsk Nickel. The online bank was founded by Tinkoff in 2006 and at one point became the largest digital bank in the world.

Tinkov, who has been unusually outspoken against war among Russia's super-rich and oligarchs, stepped down as the bank's chairman in 2020 after being diagnosed with leukemia.

He reportedly lives in London, but is sanctioned by the British state, which prohibits aircraft on ships he owns, manages, charters, or operates from entering or landing in the UK.