Mikhail Khodorkovsky has written a new article for his column in The New Times magazine – on what exactly frightens the Russian authorities about the Ukrainian revolution.

In his writing, Khodorkovsky draws upon examples of the distortions of reality made by the Russian President and his representatives in regard to the situation in Ukraine. Based on his own experiences during his visit to Ukraine, he refutes many points made by the Kremlin.

“A statement made by the Russian President said that the agreement in respect to the Ukrainian State, in which Russia guaranteed the inviolability of borders, is no longer in force due to the change of the authorities and laws in Ukraine. That is a curious judgment for someone with a law degree, who attempts to cover a breach of his own commitments with such verbal gymnastics.”

“Secondly, the people at Maidan were identified as thugs and Nazis, and Kiev is presented as a city under the control of armed gangs of anarchists; these also proved to be absolutely baseless allegations.” During Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trip to Kiev he met with the people at Maidan and was convinced that they were “respectable, although very tired” – “Ukrainians and Russians, Crimean Tatars and Jews, from Kharkov, Lvov, Donetsk and Ivanovo-Frankovsk, students and ex-servicemen.” “In conversation almost all said with resentment – “Your president calls us fascists. Why is he lying?””

The last question Khodorkovsky addresses is the fate of the wounded Berkuts – the Russian President announced that they are not fed or medically treated. Mikhail Khodorkovsky had an opportunity to personally see them in the hospital, he wrote:

“Again – lies. It is an attempt to cause a clash between the peoples of Ukraine and Russia. Why? Because it is terribly scary, that the Ukrainian revolution against corruption would appear attractive to Russian citizens. After all, everyone in the Ukraine, from ordinary people to big businessmen and politicians, were saying that they came out on Maidan Square because of self-respect, specifically – because they “got fed-up with corruption”.

Apparently, in Russia, we are not yet fed-up with liars and bribe-takers.”

Read here the original article in Russian