Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Hope for Khodorkovsky?

At first glance, it is hard not to conclude that the future looks dire for Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, the former Yukos executives who have been in prison since 2003 and are widely seen as victims of the Kremlin’s power politics and greed over oil assets. Yet despite this apparent bad news, there may be growing reason to hope that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev will be released early. Above all, there has been a dramatic shift in how the Russian media is handling the case.

June 8, 2011

The End of the Medvedev Revolution?

Since a Russian judge sentenced former Yukos oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, to thirteen and a half years in prison on December 30, many commentators have viewed the outcome as a major setback for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. In the long run, however, the case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev may hurt Prime Minister Vladimir Putin more than Medvedev as the two rivals position themselves for the 2012 presidential contest.

January 5, 2011