Khodorkovsky became very rich in Siberian oil fields around the turn of the millennium. But after making political moves, among other things, he ended up in disfavor with Putin, was imprisoned for ten years and now lives in exile.
One reason why all attempts at a strong opposition so far have failed in Russia is that people, as in many other authoritarian countries, have developed sympathy and empathy for the rulers, says Khodorkovsky in an interview with The Financial Times. The population as a whole suffers from the Stockholm syndrome, he says. The term was coined after the Norrmalmstorg drama in 1973, when several hostages took a stand for the bank robbers against the police.
– Do you usually hear about a lot of opposition in dictatorships? asks the former oil mogul rhetorically.
But he still seems to expect a change of power in Russia – through violence.
“It can come through the circle around Putin, or the army, or society at large,” Khodorkovsky told the newspaper.
According to the 58-year-old, concern about this contributes to the Moscow regime not wanting to order general mobilization.
– Putin and (fellow President of Belarus) Lukashenko do not dare to give weapons to the people. (President of Ukraine) Zelensky was not afraid of his people but handed out weapons.
– If Putin distributes 40,000 automatic rifles in Moscow, he will not be there tomorrow.