How The West Can Stop Putin, with Exiled Critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky | Intelligence Squared

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has experienced first hand the wrath of Vladimir Putin. Here, in conversation with his co-author Martin Sixsmith, Khodorkovsky shares his unique insight into Putin, the Russian regime and the president’s abuse of power. Drawing from his new book ‘The Russia Conundrum’, Khodorkovsky reveals previously unknown information about his own life to show how Russia really works and how the West can truly begin to blunt the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions. A successful oil tycoon and once the wealthiest man in Russia, Khodorkovsky was arrested at gunpoint in 2003, stripped of his assets and jailed on politically motivated charges. After almost 10 years in prison, he wrote a handwritten letter to Vladimir Putin pleading for release to see his terminally ill mother. This release was granted on the condition that Khodorkovsky leave Russia for good. After the death of his mother, Khodorkovsky began to criticise Putin publicly once more, eventually becoming one of the most notable critics of Pu