Ousted Founder Of Russian Facebook Applauds New Russia Sanctions On Facebook
Pavel Durov, the ousted founder of Russian social media website VKontakte, has taken to Facebook to celebrate the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia amid crisis in Ukraine.
Durov fled Russia last week as Putin allies Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov took over Russia's version of Facebook after Durov refused to hand over information about activists.
Sechin, CEO of the Russian state oil major Rosneft, is on the new American sanction list. Durov, who now lives in the Caribbean nation of Kitts and Nevis, expressed his satisfaction on Facebook.
Former Russian oligarch and Putin rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky owned Yukos, a now-defunct oil company that pumped 2% of the world's output, before being jailed for 10 years for fraud and tax evasion in 2013. Most of Yukos' assets are now owned by Rosneft.
Durov's last post on VKontakte featured a cartoon strip calling for freedom of information in Russia.