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VARESE, Italy – While most motorcycle companies have remained silent since Russia invaded Ukraine less than a week ago, aside from announcing the ending of exports to Russia, there is one exception. Timur Sardarov, the Moscow-born CEO of Italy luxury sport brand MV Agusta, has repeatedly blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin in a series of Instagram posts over the past six days.
Calling the war “horrific, pointless,” Sardarov declared Tuesday, “Russians have never been so betrayed by any ruler in our long, difficult and proud history!”
Sardarov described Putin as “a small minded, envious, cruel, vindictive and paranoid lier (sic)” and expressed his personal distaste for the invasion. “I have never felt so bad in my life, feeling absolutely disgusted, ashamed and betrayed by this horrific, stupid cruel act of war,” he wrote.
Sardarov suggested that Putin “hates his own people” and concluded, “He does not represent us and we will throw him in the dump of history.”
After appearing for a day or two that post has since been deleted by Sardarov. In earlier posts, he implored “Please STOP WAR!” and stated, “The biggest tragedy of my generation is this horrific, pointless war. Everybody who fueled it, started it, supported it is a betrayer of Ukraine and the Russian people.”
Meanwhile, Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Honda today revealed that it has joined Harley-Davidson and Indian owner Polaris in the United States in suspending exports of new models to Russia.
The MV Agusta brand was founded in 1907. In 2017, Luxembourg-based ComSar Invest, headed by Sardarov, became a shareholder. It assumed full ownership in 2019.
According to Motorcycle.com, Sardarov has also addressed Russia’s invasion in a more personal internal company email.
“I have a lot of friends in Ukraine and a lot of friends and family in Russia. During my upbringing and the upbringing of my parents we always considered each other as closest brother nations,” he wrote.
“We had free movement between our cities, we never considered each other different. We supported each other, we fell in love with each other – before these horrific atrocities were conducted by the Russian regime.“
Sardarov continued, “The rhetoric that is coming out from the Russian and Western media are so polarised that it is making me sick. I believe that most of Russians also feel the same. Russians are a very proud nation and in our history no one has ever betrayed us more than this regime led by Putin.
My thoughts and prayers are going to all the Ukrainian people and the poor Russian soldiers, young boys that have been thrown into this brother-killing conflict.“
(Updated on March 4, 2022 to reflect the fact an Instagram post by Sardarov has been removed.)
(Photos courtesy of MV Agusta)
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