Roman Abramovich’s daughter Sofia has shared an anti-Vladimir Putin message on Instagram following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The sporting world has widely united in condemnation of the attack, which has prompted Uefa and Formula One, among others, to abandon major upcoming events in Russia.
On Friday, Sofia Abramovich posted a graphic on her Instagram Stories which criticised Russian president Putin.
It featured the word “Russia” crossed out and above it, it read “Putin wants a war with Ukraine”.
“The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin,” it added. Tagged in the post was the anti-war Instagram page ‘Russia.Reality’.
Chelsea’s oligarch owner Abramovich has faced questions over his historic dealings with Putin - which he vehemently denies.
On Thursday, Labour MP Chris Bryant criticised the 55-year-old’s legitimacy as the owner of the Premier League club, after using parliamentary privilege to name him in a leaked Home Office report.
Bryant detailed “a leaked document from 2019 from the Home Office which says in relation to Mr Abramovich – ‘As part of HMG’s Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices’.”
Prime minister Boris Johnson has launched sanctions against the Russian state and numerous individuals in response to the invasion, although Abramovich is not known to be among them.
The billionaire withdrew his application for a UK visa in 2018 and has since taken up citizenship with Israel and Portugal - significantly reducing his trips to watch Chelsea live.
