Russia accuses exiled opponents, including Khodorkovsky, of plotting to seize power
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Tuesday that it had opened a criminal case against exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, accusing him of creating a “terrorist organisation” and plotting to violently seize power.
The investigation reportedly includes more than 20 other prominent exiles, such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, and economists Sergei Aleksashenko and Sergei Guriev. The FSB claims that Khodorkovsky is positioning himself as an alternative Russian leadership and funding Ukrainian paramilitary units to eventually take power, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Khodorkovsky denied the accusations, calling the case a Kremlin attempt to undermine the Council of Europe’s new platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces in exile. “Hence the new cases about ‘seizing power,’ the lies about ‘recruiting’ and ‘arming the Ukrainian military,’” he said on Telegram.
Russia quit the Council of Europe in 2022 amid expulsion proceedings over its invasion of Ukraine. While the criminal case may have little practical effect on suspects living abroad, it signals Moscow’s intent to maintain pressure on exiled opponents of President Vladimir Putin and portray them as a threat to state security.
The investigation includes members of the Russian Anti-War Committee, a dissident group opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, spent ten years in a Siberian prison on politically charged fraud charges before being pardoned in 2013. Since 2022, he has been a leading figure among Russian exiles supporting Kyiv in the conflict with Moscow.
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