As announced on the Twitter feed of Russian journalist and author Masha Gessen, the U.S. magazine Vanity Fair is making her full profile of Mikhail Khodorkovsky available to read online to commemorate his 49th birthday.

In this memorable article, Gessen writes, “the longer Khodorkovsky stays in prison, the more people seem prepared to listen to his views on how Russia should function. He has published six books and numerous articles while in confinement. The country is desolate: its public space has been systematically destroyed; there are no voices of moral authority able to address more than a few close friends; there is no free politics. Khodorkovsky alone, whether from prison or from a remote penal colony, has managed to fill those gaps.”

Click here to gain full access to the free profile of Mikhail Khodorkovsky by Masha Gessen.