Two of Russia's wealthiest billionaires speak out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine

 Two of Russia's wealthiest billionaires speak out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

They are the first Russian business leaders to do so, with sanctions targeting its elite.

The USA and NATO are trying to cut off Russia's financial, energy, mineral, and diamond industries.

Billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska speak out against war with Ukraine - making them among the first Russian business leaders to resist Putin's military invasion.

The rare protest from Russian elites comes when the United States, Canada, and European countries impose "heavy" sanctions on the country's economy and financial systems. On top of targeting the Russian economy and economic systems, the sanctions also target the prominent Russian oligarchy and its Western assets.

One day after the invasion of Ukraine, the 22 wealthiest people in Russia lost a total of $39 billion. Now, the Russian economy is facing a financial meltdown.

"War can never be the answer," Friedman, who founded Russia's largest private bank and currently runs private equity firm LetterOne, said in a letter to employees first published by the Financial Times on Sunday.

"I do not make political decisions; I am a businessman responsible for several thousand of my employees in Russia and Ukraine," the Ukrainian-born investor wrote in the Financial Times. "This crisis will cost lives and destroy two nations that have been brothers for hundreds of years."

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Friedman is one of Russia's richest men, and he ranks 183rd in the list of the world's richest men.

While he is not currently personally targeted by US sanctions, Bloomberg reports that Friedman may be named in the upcoming EU sanctions.

"Peace is essential" in a Telegram message on Sunday, Deripaska said, adding that peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia should start "as soon as possible."

The Russian oligarch has personally been on the US sanctions list since 2018 when the US Treasury designated him as having ties to the Russian government and state energy sector.

The Wall Street Journal reported that he sued to overturn the penalties after they "destroyed" his wealth and business reputation.

On Thursday, sanctions were imposed on ten oligarchs in Putin's inner circle, including prominent CEOs of Russia's state-backed oil and diamond mining companies.