It is certainly an interesting variation of the “Emperor has no clothes” parable, especially since Putin liked being photographed bare chested; former Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky called Putin a “naked king” whose economy will fall apart, according to Yahoo.
Khodorkovsky has been the voice of the Russian opposition abroad and spoke in London. He believes that sanctions are succeeding in weakening Putin’s grip and with more economic weakness will come more disunity, which will aggravate Putin. According to Yahoo, Khodrokovsky said, “Putin with a bare chest is not a mighty leader. He is a naked king.”
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky became an oil tycoon in the years after the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union. He owned Yukos, but was convicted of fraud and tax evasion on flimsy evidence produced by his political opponents. He was arrested in 2003, released in 2013, and since leaving Russia Khodorkovsky has been commenting on the progress of Putin’s eventual downfall from self-imposed exile.
He thinks Putin will increase his aggression against the Ukraine and is likely to grab more territory, because he wants to return to the spheres of influence power structure reminiscent of the Cold War. “Putin is dreaming of getting a deal with the United States about a new-old order for the world, when the world is split on zone of influence. When you cannot interfere with someone else’s zone. Not even to mention internal politics.”
Referring to Putin’s eventual downfall, he added, “It doesn’t matter whether it happens tomorrow or in ten years, ” said the 51 year old, “Although we hope to be still alive when it happens.”
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was born in Moscow, to parents who were both engineers who “spent their entire careers at a measuring-instruments factory.” His father is Jewish and his mother is Russian Orthodox.
