Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg. Also, a douchebag.

Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg, 27-year-old internet entrepeneur Pavel Durov, created a mini street riot in St. Petersburg recently when he and the vice-president of his popular Facebook-alike social networking site VKontakte were snapped throwing paper planes made out of 5 000 ruble notes into the street below their head office.

Soon enough, a brawl broke out among the crowds desperate to get their hands on the cash missiles, while upstairs, Durov and his pal laughed away and filmed the scenes below.

One eye witness commented, “People turned into dogs as they were literally attacking the notes! They broke each other’s noses, climbed the traffic lights with their prey – just like monkeys. Shame on Durov!”

No video has been released of what happened, but someone caught a snap of Durov in the act:

Durov’s stunt has attracted scorn from across Russia. One outraged critic tweeted, “5 000 rubles is a big sum for many people. It was too cruel to throw away such money and watch how others behave.”

Subsequently, Durov posted on his site that the stunt was an “experiment” designed to “bring a festive air” to St. Petersburg, which was celebrating a city holiday that day. He told his followers on Twitter: “Definitely, more such actions are to follow.”

Income disparity in Russia is a massive headache for the government, with the country’s wealthy elite typically earning 16 times more than the poorest. Poverty figures were also reported up in 2011.

[Sources: Gawker, RT Daily, MSN, Rian]