Newsletters / Mikhail Khodorkovsky Summer Review
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As we approach the Autumn season, I have been busy reflecting on the key events that took place during this Summer.
On Prison Exchange
Kara-Murza, Pivovarov, Yashin and other brave Russians held hostage by Putin are finally free. Americans Gershkovich, Whelan headed home.
Here’s what you should know about this massive Russia-West prisoner swap:
I am overjoyed that Vladimir Kara-Murza and Andrey Pivovarov, my colleagues and fellow fighters for a democratic Russia, are no longer behind bars. For years, we have tirelessly advocated for their and every other political prisoner’s release at every international forum. They’re brave patriots of Russia.
I am also happy for the members of the Navalny team: Ksenia Fadeeva and Liliya Chanysheva (Tomsk/Ufa offices), Vadim Ostanin (Barnaul), who were serving 7-9 years for nothing more than political activism. Oleg Orlov, Memorial rights group chair, was sentenced to 2.5 years for anti-war speech. Aleksandra Skochilenko, an artist with underlying health conditions, had received 7 years for anti-war price tags.
Now, they all will be returning home, along with WSJ reporter Gershkovich, RFE/RL journalist Kurmasheva and several US and German citizens who were arrested in Russia and Belarus just to provide leverage for a swap.
GLOBSEC Forum 2024
I spoke at GLOBSEC’s ‘Russia Beyond Putin’ session with Free Russia Foundation’s Roland Freudenstein, journalist Mikhail Zygar, moderated by The New York Times’ Valerie Hopkins.
We stated that to counter Putin, we must make the vision of a democratic future as clear and appealing as the dream of Western-style living in the late 1980s. It’s the only way to decisively defeat a dictatorship that terrorizes its neighbors and controls its own people with force.
Russia won’t disappear, no matter the outcome of the current conflict. The West must learn to coexist with its 120-140 million people. But how? The answer lies in a nuanced approach that separates the population from those in power
PACE meeting
After more than a year of preparations, I am delighted to announce that the Russian Anti-War Committee now has official representation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The goal – empowering anti-Putin democratic Russians to help bring justice-based peace to Ukraine and force the fundamental regime change in Russia were in the focus of discussion with us, with the Russian democratic forces.
We have created a contact group led by Dmitry Gudkov and comprising the leaders of PACE and representatives of the Russian democratic opposition forces. Estonian MP Eerik-Niiles Kross will act as our General Rapporteur at PACE.
Couple of weeks ago, our first meeting took place in Paris. I attended, along with Eerik-Niiles Kross, Dmitri Gudkov, Sergey Aleksashenko, Ekaterina Shulman, Anastasia Shevchenko, Kirill Martynov and Maksim Kurnikov.
Discussions at the meeting focused on how to fight Putin’s regime on the global stage. Eerik-Niiles presented a roadmap for our joint efforts and reaffirmed that PACE does not recognize Putin’s regime as legitimate.
In the media:
Statement:
I was locked up like Evan Gershkovich. This is what the West must do / The Times (English)
With Kursk Incursion, Kyiv Seeks To Show West ‘Red Lines Don’t Exist,’ Khodorkovsky Says RFE/RL / Current Time (English)
Khodorkovsky: ‘Clock Will Start Ticking’ For Putin After Russians Realize They’re At War / RFE/RL (English)
On travel to Russia: Westerners should carefully consider the risks of visiting Russia, as they could become targets or political leverage for the Putin regime. / Tagesspiegel (German)
Khodorkovsky en Globsec: La oposición rusa debe tratar de crear una visión para el futuro / Czech Radio (Spanish) and Chodorkovskij na Globsecu: Ruská opozice se musí snažit o vytvoření vize pro budoucnost / Český rozhlas, ČTK (Czech)
Až v Rusku přijde změna, Západ musí rychle jednat, říká Chodorkovskij / Česká televize (Czech)
Putinovi zbývá rok. Pak mu začnou “tikat hodiny”, předpovídá bývalý nejbohatší Rus / Aktuálně (Czech)
Chodorkovskij v Praze: Rusko je připraveno využít ozbrojené síly vůči sousedům, ale i proti svým občanům / Blesk (Czech)
