One of Russia's wealthiest men has put his hand in his pocket to save some of Sochi's stray dogs.

Canines in and around the Winter Olympic village were reportedly being rounded up and shot in an attempt to stop them from causing a nuisance at the Games.

However, billionaire Oleg Deripaska has now payed for an estimated 2,000 animals to be taken to a makeshift shelter run by Olga Melnikova.

Deripaska says that he made the gesture because he grew up with a stray dog.

He told the BBC: "My first dog I found in the street of my village, the tiny village [where I grew up]. It was a very close friend for almost five years."

Deripaska was worth $8.5bn in March 2013, according to Forbes.