2023-06-26 07:35:21
HomeUkraineAfter the Wagner uprising against Putin: This is how Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky reacted
Mikhail Khodorkovsky tells how the West can prevent a new bandit from ruling Russia.
Suzanne Lenz
The Russian regime critic Mikhail KhodorkowskiBernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
On Saturday, the Russian government critic and former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky called on the Russians to support the head of the Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin in his fight against the leadership of the Russian army. “As strange as it may sound.” Anything that undermines Putin’s legitimacy is good at the moment. On Sunday he interpreted the events in a Twitter thread: he called the attempted military coup by Yevgeny Prigozhin one of the most serious political events that have taken place in Russia in the last 20 years. But the democratic opposition again failed to take advantage of the situation because they had prepared for other scenarios. “The democratic movement has a lesson to learn: regime change will not be brought about at the ballot box.”
Had Prigozhin assumed power with the tolerance of the democratic forces, he would not have released political prisoners or called free elections, Khodorkovsky said. “Prigozhin’s mutiny presented the West with a likely scenario for regime change in Russia and the political forces that could take power in the Kremlin.”
Khodorkovsky interprets the events as a sign of Putin’s weakness and sees them as a signal for the end of Putin’s rule. But Prigozhin is just as big a bandit, if not even a bigger one, than Putin. “Unless the West wants a new bandit to rule nuclear Russia, it must bank on the Russian anti-war democratic opposition and give it a voice.”
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image series
Wagner-Söldner in Rostov am Don Eric Romanenko/Imago
Selfie with the Wagner boss: Yevgeny Prigozhin (right) is celebrated when leaving Rostow.AP
A Wagner fighter sits next to a sculpture of the clown Oleg Popov.Erik Romanenko/Imago
Wagner mercenaries leave the Rostov area.Sergey Pivovarov/Imago
Onlookers film Wagner fighters with their smartphones. Erik Romanenko/Imago
A mercenary on a tankErik Romanenko/Imago
Masked Wagner fighter in RostowErik Romanenko/Imago
The city of Moscow prepared its defense: military vehicle on an access road.Sofya Sandurskaya/Imago
Police officers in MoscowValery Sharifulin/Imago
Operation for the Russian National GuardSofya Sandurskaya/TASS/Imago
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation.Russian Presidential Press Service/dpa
Wagner mercenaries stand on a balcony in Rostov.Roman RomokhovAFP
Wagner-Chef Jewgeni PrigoschinPrigozhin Press Service/AP
“Putin has neither the country nor the troops under control”
According to Khodorkovsky, there are certainly associations that one can rely on. He names the Russian Action Committee, which he founded together with the Russian dissident and chess player Garry Kasparov, to which many of the best-known Russian opposition figures belong: If Western authorities would recognize opposition associations as legitimate representatives of Russian society and the opportunities that this would bring, this would help the opposition .
“The West must decide with whom to ally itself for the future of Russia,” writes Khodorkovsky. “The most important result of these events was that Putin was seriously weakened, lost his legitimacy and became a lame duck.”
It has been shown that Putin has neither the country nor the troops under control and the population does not believe his myths about the war. “He had to ask Lukashenko and Kadyrov for help to end the mutiny, and the people of the conquered cities welcomed the Wagner fighters.”
Khodorkovsky on Prigozhin: It wasn’t just theater
“Prigozhin’s march did not end with his seizure of power, but it significantly ousted Putin and preferred the end of his rule. So we can’t say that this was all just theater – it was very real. (…) Now the country and the world know that it is possible to rebel against Putin without being crushed because Putin is weak.”
Revolt of the Wagner mercenaries: According to the US report, Putin probably knew about Prigozhin’s plans
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was the head of Yukos, one of the world’s largest oil producers. After criticizing corruption at a televised meeting with President Putin in early 2003, he was arrested later that year and sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of tax evasion and fraud. He was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and eventually released in December 2013. Today he lives in London.
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