Russia’s Federal Security Service has announced the initiation of a criminal case against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a prominent Kremlin critic in exile. The charges against him include the alleged creation of a “terrorist organization” and a plot to violently seize power. Khodorkovsky, a former oil magnate and once the wealthiest individual in Russia, previously spent a decade in a Siberian prison on what was widely considered politically motivated fraud charges by Western nations.
The Federal Security Service stated that the accusations pertain to the activities of a group supported by Khodorkovsky, known as the Anti-War Committee, which opposes the conflict in Ukraine and has been outlawed in Russia. There has been no immediate response from Khodorkovsky or his representatives.
Khodorkovsky rose to fame as one of the few affluent businessmen who supported Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s former president, during the 1990s, subsequently gaining significant influence over the Russian economy. However, his fortunes changed as Vladimir Putin, Yeltsin’s successor, consolidated control over once-independent business figures within the Kremlin.
Pardoned in 2013, Khodorkovsky departed Russia and has since aligned himself with various groups critical of Putin. He has emerged as a prominent figure among Russian exiles who support Kyiv in the Ukraine conflict, leading to his designation as a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities in 2022.