Putin does not regret pardoning Khodorkovsky – Kommersant

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov does not believe that Vladimir Putin does not regret pardoning the former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky (recognized as a foreign agent). According to him, in 2013, the president did this “for human reasons,” after which the businessman left some “assurances on paper,” which, as Dmitry Peskov said, were never fulfilled.

“I don’t think so,” the spokesman said when asked whether Vladimir Putin regrets his decision to pardon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. “Then there were certain assurances from Mr. Khodorkovsky, a request and, indeed, the president, based on human, humanitarian considerations, made such a decision. As for the assurances, they all remained on paper, nothing more. But this quite eloquently characterizes the mentioned citizen,” said Dmitry Peskov.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion in 2005. In 2010, the former head of Yukos was found guilty of oil theft and money laundering. He was sentenced to a further 14 years in prison. In 2013, he received a presidential pardon and then left Russia.

In May last year, the Ministry of Justice added Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the list of individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent. According to the Ministry of Justice, he received money from Ukraine. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, after receiving the status of a foreign agent, said that from February 24, 2022, he “broke all relations with the Russian state, which keeps the country under occupation.”

Anastasia Larina