Kremlin critic Khodorkovsky: Putin's Ukraine war is betrayal of Russian interests

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who fell foul of the Kremlin, said Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was a betrayal of Russian interests and that the conflict was only started to keep Putin's clan in power. "We need to be clear that it is Putin and his entourage who started the war in order to hold onto their power - not the Russian people," Khodorkovsky said.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who fell foul of the Kremlin, said Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was a betrayal of Russian interests and that the conflict was only started to keep Putin's clan in power. "We need to be clear that it is Putin and his entourage who started the war in order to hold onto their power - not the Russian people," Khodorkovsky said. "Unleashing a war of aggression and using the armed forces for personal gain signifies that a junta led by Putin has seized power in Russia."

"I urge you to do everything you can, everyone in your place, to stop the war," Khodorkovsky said. Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, was arrested on a plane in Siberia in 2003 and jailed for massive tax evasion and fraud and his once mighty oil company, Yukos, was split apart.