Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in prison between 2003 and 2013 and now lives in London, said Putin’s invasion had completely changed the agenda of Russia’s political opposition and claimed “armed resistance” could play a role at some point in the future . “We need to explain to people what they can do, convince them that they should do it and also help people if they end up in a dangerous situation as a result,” Khodorkovsky told the Guardian. He said possible actions should depend on each individual’s tolerance for risk and could range from painting anti-war graffiti on the streets to sabotaging war-related railway deliveries or burning down recruitment offices. “But we are clearly against terrorist methods that harm unarmed people,” he said, criticizing the killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian imperialist ideologue, last month, which was claimed without evidence by a hitherto unknown Russian rebel group. . Khodorkovsky was speaking in his first interview about his new book, The Russia Conundrum, which comes out later this week. Part memoir and part analysis of Putin’s years in power, the book presents a model for Western states on how to deal with Moscow. Khodorkovsky has one of post-Soviet Russia’s most remarkable personal stories, starting from financial start-up in the Communist Youth League during Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in the late 1980s and becoming Russia’s richest businessman through his chairmanship of the oil company Yukos. In the book, Khodorkovsky describes his first meetings with Putin, which he left convinced that the new Russian president was an ideological ally. “His technique is to look at you and mirror what you say… He’s a chameleon who leaves everyone thinking he’s on their side,” she writes. Looking back, he admits he completely misread Putin. “I wasn’t sharp enough to see it. He has this KGB professional ability to adapt to his interlocutor, but he also has a personal flair for it… Back then, he didn’t feel stable in his position and didn’t want to create enemies who would unite against him. Of course he never had liberal views.” In 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges widely seen as political after he publicly criticized government corruption during a meeting with Putin and promised to fund opposition parties. His arrest was seen as one of the first milestones in Putin’s gradual tightening of the screws over the past two decades. Khodorkovsky said Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine shocked him anew and completely changed his views on how best to oppose the regime. “Of course, [the invasion] it was an absolutely seminal moment. My impressions and feelings before and after February 24 are completely different,” he said. All four of Khodorkovsky’s grandparents were either Ukrainian or lived in Ukraine, and as a young child he spent summers at his great-grandmother’s house near Kharkiv. However, he always identified as Russian. “It always felt normal, nothing to be ashamed of being Russian. Now every time you say you are Russian, there is an inner discomfort,” he said. Like many Russians, Khodorkovsky has had disagreements in recent months that have ended long friendships. He said that even among friends who supported him during his years in prison, some turned out to be supporters of the invasion of Ukraine. “Imagine, you’ve known people since you were both seven years old, and now you’re both almost 60 and you just can’t talk to them,” she said. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But he also said it was important for the West to focus on the many Russians who did not support Putin’s regime or the war in Ukraine. They are strongly against the policy implemented in some European capitals of a complete ban on tourist visas for Russians. “The West has ideological allies inside Russia, who believe that Russia should develop on a European path,” he said. “If Putin lives another 10 or 15 years, he would really reduce the number of European-oriented Russians, and I don’t think that’s good for anyone but Putin.” During his decade in London, Khodorkovsky remained an active commentator on issues within Russia and funded various civil society movements through his Open Russia foundation, which was deemed an “undesirable organization” by Russian courts in 2017 and suspended its operation. He was one of several opposition figures to speak at the so-called Congress of Free Russia, which was held in Lithuania last week and aimed to build a coordinated platform for opposition to Putin. But critics say much of the opposition is now disconnected from life inside the country. Associates of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny refused to attend the Lithuanian congress, dismissing it as a talking-shop. At present, it is difficult to see a mass opposition movement being possible in Russia. Khodorkovsky said that, sooner or later, Putin’s regime will fall. A key element in this will be Ukraine’s victory in the war, he hopes. Then, Russia should be “reformed” as a loose parliamentary federation. There was a path to that outcome that didn’t involve bloodshed, he claimed, “but it’s probably unlikely.” The most important thing, he said, was for the West not to write Russia off completely, so that when the critical moment comes, there is a better chance that a post-Putin Russia will be liberal and pro-Western. “This is a nightmare, but this nightmare does not mean that Russia and Europe are separated forever. It is extremely important against this difficult emotional background to maintain common sense, pragmatism and a vision for the future, for a democratic, European Russia,” he said.
The Russia Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin’s Power Gambit – and How to Fix It by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, with Martin Sixsmith, out September 8 from WH Allen, £20
