A former oil tycoon who spent ten years in prison after falling foul of Vladimir Putin said the Russian president ‘has gone mad’ after ordering the invasion of Ukraine.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, spoke out last night as Ukrainian troops battled to repel an attack by Putin’s forces.
The former magnate was arrested by the Russian authorities in 2003 and charged with fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.
He was released in 2013 and fled to London, where he now leads a foundation, the Dossier Center, dedicated to exposing criminal activity by Kremlin insiders.
Speaking to The Times, he attempted to explain Putin’s actions after the Russian president shocked the world by ordering the full-scale attack on Ukraine.
He said: ‘I think we are not dealing with a sane person, it is someone who has gone mad.
‘He wants to make Russia great again and in 50 or 100 years he wants to be remembered as a great ruler of Russia.’
A former oil tycoon who spent ten years in prison after falling foul of Vladimir Putin said the Russian president ‘has gone mad’ after ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Mikhail Khodorkovsky (file photo), who was once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, spoke out last night as Ukrainian troops battled to repel an attack by Putin’s forces
As he spoke, Russian missiles were raining down on Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv and families cowered in shelters as Russian forces pressed their offensive.
Khodorkovsky, 58, said in a wider video call with reporters that Putin wanted to take Ukraine, destroy its defences and install a ‘puppet government’ in Kyiv.
The West should help Ukraine, including by arming its people, or it will face a long, and potentially bloody, occupation, he said.
‘I am in absolute shock from what has taken place,’ Khodorkovsky said.
At times he appeared to be close to tears.
Khodorkovsky attempted to explain Putin’s actions after the Russian president shocked the world by ordering the full-scale attack on Ukraine. He said: ‘I think we are not dealing with a sane person, it is someone who has gone mad’
‘The screws will be tightened’ on dissent within Russia too, Khodorkovsky added.
‘Changing the Putin regime through democratic means cannot happen; change can come exclusively through revolution – either revolution from above or revolution from below,’ he said.
‘A revolution is possible either as the result of a military defeat or when Putin passes away,’ he said.
He cast the 69-year-old Putin, Russia’s paramount leader since 1999, as a ‘dictator’ who was living in a tightly controlled ‘information bubble’ and who constantly needed to prove himself to his entourage.
Russian officials dismiss such criticism and point to Putin’s repeated electoral victories and polling which shows he remains popular. Putin has said Khodorkovsky is a criminal.
Khodorkovsky was convicted of his alleged crimes in a Moscow trial which he said was motivated by enemies who wanted to rip apart his oil and gas company YUKOS and punish him for his political ambitions.
The former magnate was arrested by the Russian authorities in 2003 and charged with fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. He was released in 2013 and fled to London. Above: Khodorkovsky in a Russian court in 2005
He always denied the charges.
YUKOS was crippled with massive back-tax claims and then its main Siberian oil production units were sold off by the state, only to be bought later by state-controlled firms.
Khodorkovsky was pardoned by Putin in 2013 and left Russia.
He dismissed speculation that Putin was behaving irrationally over Ukraine, but said the Russian leader appeared to doubt the loyalty of some in his entourage.
He pointed to how Putin had chastised foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin before television cameras on Feb. 21.
Asked if Putin would go further than Ukraine, Khodorkovsky said: ‘I am convinced that if Putin achieves his aims in Ukraine then he will want to punish someone else later.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10553811/Former-Russian-tycoon-Mikhail-Khodorkovsky-says-Vladimir-Putin-gone-mad.html
