The well-known Russian opposition businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the richest man in Russia until his conviction and exile, lamented this Sunday that with the failure of the Wagner group uprising the opportunity for a change of government in Russia was lost, but he called to be ready for new riots.
“Thought with a cool head: a revolutionary situation took place yesterday. An uprising in Moscow could have changed power. We let the situation escape. But the regime weakened as a result of that, this is a plus,” he wrote on his channel Telegram.
According to the Russian opponent, “more situations like this will arise” and for this reason, “we must be more ready” for when they arrive.
After declaring themselves in default, the Wagner Group crossed the Russian border, occupied the city of Rostov on the Don and sent four columns on a “march of justice” towards Moscow, as the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin christened it, with the order to replace the Russian military leadership, which he blames for the failures of the Russian Army in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the revolt as “treason” and it was only thanks to the mediation of his Belarusian counterpart, Alexandr Lukashenko, that an agreement was reached with Prigozhin that put an end to the uprising.
This Saturday, with the uprising in full swing, Khodorkovsky urged to help Prigozhin in his rebellion against the Russian military command, since the real enemy is not in Kiev, but in Moscow.
“Prigozhin’s rebellion, despite its lukewarmness and lack of preparation, is the strongest blow to Putin’s reputation,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
He stressed that the head of the Wagner Group is right when he said that “the official reason for the war (NATO is preparing to attack Russia) is bullshit that nobody believes in.”
“What we can do to help our country now is to help people listen to Prigozhin while he is telling the truth. And if he goes to Moscow, stop him from stopping, help with gasoline and diesel, convince those who will be sent to stop him. that we now have a common enemy,” Khodorkovsky emphasized.
The ex-Russian oligarch’s calls for support are curious if one looks back: just over two years ago, Prigozhin offered half a million dollars for the capture of Khodorkovsky for statements made to the Russian opposition radio station Echo of Moscow.
“In this story I am the patriot and the good guy. And Khodorkovsky, the bad guy. He is a former oligarch who bribed the country’s leaders in the 1990s and stole enormous resources from our people, who now hides in London and periodically he throws himself farts. And Echo of Moscow amplifies this noise,” Wagner’s boss said then.
He further accused the former Russian oil tycoon of “having killed lots of people” and offered a large bounty on his head.
Khodorkovsky was arrested by the authorities in 2003, found guilty of several economic crimes, sentenced to 14 years in prison and confined to a penitentiary in Siberia, although he was finally pardoned in 2013 by Putin, his great enemy.
