Mikhail Khodorkovsky (58) was Russia’s richest oligarch. As owner and top manager of the giant Russian oil company Yukos, he also had close ties to President Vladimir Putin.
However, it ended when in 2003 he spoke loudly about corruption in Russia and began to mark himself as a critic of the Russian regime. The former oligarch was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison for what human rights organizations describe as a punishment for criticizing the Kremlin.
Today he lives in exile in London and is one of the country’s most prominent dissidents. He has gone on several occasions hard against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
– Has changed behavior
Worried about sequel
In an interview with British The Independent says the exile oligarch that he believes support for the war among the Russian people will decrease in two years. He points out that Russian history has taught us that regimes that lose a war get into big trouble within two years.
Whether this will mean the end for Putin, however, is difficult to say, he believes. And even if Putin were to be removed from power in Russia, it would not necessarily be good news for the West, he believes.
– This is probably one of my biggest concerns. The Russian people want a good tsar. And the West wants a good tsar. But in Russia, a good tsar is always an imperialist. The only way to destroy the imperialist mentality of Russian power is to change the system, says Khodorkovsky.
