Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a former Russian oligarch who served ten years in prison on the orders of Vladimir Putin. He now lives in London and speaks today Republic of the next vote in the country. He asserts that the Tsar is “not as strong as he seems.” When he decides to kill someone, most recently Navalny, it means he is in trouble. In any case, it will be an electoral farce, and we saw it with the exclusion of the anti-war candidate Boris Nadejdin: he had already obtained 200,000 signatures in a few days. Because the opposition is much greater than we think in Russia: according to the latest results, 17% of the population would like to stop the war and return the occupied territories to Ukraine, while those who demand peace are 52%. “.
Russia and Italy
In the interview with Antonello Guerrera, Khodorkovsky comments on Putin's words on Italy as a homeland and on the proximity to Russia: “It is a clear strategy to widen the fractures, in Italy but also in the rest of the Europe. Of course, in Italy the ground is even more fertile for him, thanks to your history, but not only that. Polls show a country divided in two because of the war in Ukraine. And from what I see, there are Kremlin agents in Italy who are doing excellent propaganda work. I don't want to name names. But I think you should develop much more effective anti-Russian propaganda tools. » And he said: “You Westerners must understand that there is no good tsar. Even if Putin fell, there would always be someone else in his place, just as dangerous as him. This is why we must support the democratic process in Russia.”
Threats of nuclear war
Regarding the threats of nuclear war, the former oligarch says he does not believe that “Putin is so suicidal. He cares about his life. He would only do such a thing if he believed in his impunity. This is why it is crucial that the West never begs him not to use nuclear weapons, but rather threatens him with enormous consequences if he dares to do so. Scenarios that could presuppose the use of nuclear bombs, such as the loss of Crimea, are currently unrealizable. » Regarding Ukraine's chances of winning the war, he asserts that “we lost this chance at the beginning, when we hesitated to fully support kyiv. The same goes for Russian elites: it is now too late to turn them against Putin. And even if the conflict in Ukraine ends today, Russia and the West will enter a cold war lasting at least 10 years. Compromise with Moscow on the war, even on current positions, can only be reached by sending hundreds of billions more in weapons and aid to kyiv. »
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