‘Power begins to crumble’: Khodorkovsky: ‘Putin will be overthrown’ if Ukraine wins

“Power Begins to Crumble”
Khodorkovsky: ‘Putin will be overthrown’ if Ukraine wins

04/23/2023, 3:40 PM

For Kremlin boss Putin, the war in Ukraine is nothing more than maintaining his power. Former oligarch leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky is adamant that Putin will be overthrown by force if the Russian military fails to win the war. There are already candidates for his successor.

Former oligarch and Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky has predicted that a military victory in Ukraine would mark the end of the Putin era. Then “Putin will be overthrown,” he says in an interview with the Funke media group’s newspapers. A 70-year-old president can no longer rely on the full loyalty of the state apparatus. “Putin’s personal power is beginning to crumble,” said the former CEO of Yukos oil company. “When the boss is 60 years old, he is still the guarantor of this instrument. As he is 75 years old, he cannot guarantee the stability of this instrument. The system starts looking for another person to follow.”

Khodorkovsky says the first names for Putin’s potential successor are already circulating. “It could be Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has also been mentioned. The governor of the Tula region, Alexei Tyumin, is also in the group.”

“May Russia’s Disintegration Come”

Putin is afraid of losing power. “What Putin fears most is betrayal from his own ranks,” Khodorkovsky told T-Online. Hence he fears conspiracies from his immediate environment. According to a Russian opposition figure now living in London, Putin is using “liquidation” possibilities for those coming from within his framework. “If he wants to sentence me to death, I’ll have no defense, I’ll just have to live with it, that’s all.”

Khodorkovsky therefore believes that regime change in Russia can only occur by force or under the threat of force. “Of course there is a possibility that there will be another totalitarian government in Russia,” Khodorkovsky continued on “T-Online”. “It will also lead to the disintegration of Russia.”

If the military is blamed for Russia’s defeat in the war with Ukraine, a violent coup could result. Khodorkovsky believes that the national-patriotic wing of the army can take decisive action. The so-called siloviki can say to the current regime: “Either you leave now, or you die.” However, such coup scenarios are realistic in the event of a military victory for Ukraine: “If Ukraine does not win, the question no longer arises.”