He drew parallels with the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict with that of World War II.

“Western leaders kept saying they were afraid to aggravate Hitler and they thought well, if you’re not showing any resistance, eventually he’ll stop,” he said. “However, that mistake has cost hundreds of millions of human lives. Hundreds of millions of human lives were lost and the same mistake is being committed now.”

NATO has been reluctant to respond to Russia’s military threat because they said it could escalate the war.

Khodorkovsky also commented on the influence of tycoons on President Vladimir Putin. It was “preposterous” to think the tycoons had any real influence over Putin.

“Oligarchs are not true oligarchs in the sense that they actually do not influence Putin,” he said.

“Yet they are Putin’s instruments of influence and to see for real who has broken their relations with Putin would be when they actually denounce him and when they admit that he is a war criminal. And if that doesn’t happen, that means they still depend on him and they’re still dangerous.”

On the ground, Ukraine’s forces are being helped by Russia’s corruption, Khodorkovsky said, adding: “the level of (Russia’s) unpreparedness has come as a great surprise to me.”

It comes after US sources said that the Russian military is facing food and fuel shortages, as well as logistical and sustainment issues. According to one officer, there are signs that some Russian soldiers have suffered frostbite as a result of their lack of cold-weather gear.

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