Vladimir Putin should have been stopped at the very beginning of the full-scale Russian war, says the exiled opposition former oil magnate. That train has left. The only possibility of stopping further Russian aggression against Europe is if the president begins to believe that the West poses a credible military threat, he claims.
Western sanctions do not help Khodorkovsky much. They "create some pressure" on the Russian economy, he says - "but nothing dramatic."
Khodorkovsky also dismisses Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Even the most powerful drone, even a Tomahawk, can hit around two hectares at most, he tells Politico .
An average facility in Siberia spans over 1,500 hectares, he adds, comparing Ukraine's drone strikes to "stepping on someone's foot."
Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch who now lives in the UK and spent ten years in a Russian prison, has long been a leading figure in the Russian exile opposition and runs the investigative organization Dossier Center.
The 62-year-old told Politico that he is hopeful of one day returning to a Russia without Putin. But regardless of whether the president falls, it will take decades for the country to free itself from the regime's "imperialist-military narrative" of Russia as an innocent victim surrounded by enemies.
"My generation will not see the day when Russian society returns to a state of normality," says Khodorkovsky.
