2023-07-05 19:52:00
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oligarch and once considered the country’s wealthiest man, is now in exile. He claims to have closely monitored the movements of Vladimir Putin during the rebellion of Prigozhin and his men from the Wagner group.
Through his contacts, Mikhail Khodorkovsky said that Putin left Moscow on a plane and went to his residence in Valdai, located quite a distance from the capital, between the Russian regions of Tver and Novgorod. “We were watching Putin at that time. It appears he did indeed leave Moscow and presumably went to Valdai, to his residence,” Mr Khodorkovsky told Newsweek from London, where he has lived since leaving Russia.
The apparent inaction of the Russian president at the outbreak of the rebellion has fueled many rumors about his absence in the capital and therefore about a possible escape. Information provided by Khodorkovsky’s contact, including aircraft tracking data, also tends to confirm these rumors.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a former executive in the Russian oil sector and notably headed the energy company Yukos but then spent many years behind bars. He repeatedly criticized Russian power and was one of the first supporters of democratic change in Russia. Although he was pardoned by the president in 2013, he remains a convinced critic of Vladimir Putin.
Newsweek has verified air data relating to the flight of Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane and confirmed that the aircraft took off from Moscow while the Wagner Group rebellion was underway.
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