Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man with a fortune of $15 billion, was freed by a presidential pardon in December. Imprisoned after convictions for tax evasion, money-laundering and oil embezzlement, Khodorkovsky maintained his innocence, saying the cases against him were retribution for financing opposition parties. The Kremlin has denied that.

The former tycoon said he’s ready to lead Russia in a crisis situation, according to France’s Le Monde newspaper, which published a video interview with the former main owner of Yukos Oil Co.

Putin’s regime may last 20 more years or end in as few as two if he makes more mistakes, Khodorkovsky told El Pais.

Russia, hit by U.S. and European sanctions over Putin’s intervention in Ukraine, is heading into recession and will post zero or negative growth for the next two to three years, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said last week.

Capital flight, running at the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, is set to accelerate after billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov was placed under house arrest Sept. 16 and charged with money laundering, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said two days later.

Evtushenkov’s real crime is most likely refusing to sell his oil company, OAO Bashneft, to state-run OAO Rosneft under terms dictated by its chief executive officer, long-time Putin ally Igor Sechin, according to Khodorkovsky. The exiled businessman lost the bulk of Yukos to Rosneft in a series of forced auctions. Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer by output, has denied an interest in acquiring Bashneft.

The longer Putin stays in power, the higher the probability of Russia disintegrating in bloodshed, Khodorkovsky told Der Spiegel. The U.S. and its allies encouraged the Russian leader’s aggression by putting business before political principles, he said.

Russia’s disintegration “won’t be as peaceful as the separation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the Cold War,” he said, according to the German newspaper. Khodorkovsky said that he values Russia’s territorial integrity and that the country needs to be strong, Der Spiegel reported.

“The main goal of resistance is elections of all levels,” he said on his website, singling out the 2016 elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. The opposition needs infrastructure “to support any candidate in elections of any level who adheres in practice to the European choice and who is prepared to fight the cancerous tumor that has consumed Russia.”

David Fuller's view

Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s outspoken opposition from Switzerland, published in Europe’s press, is an interesting and timely development, being the first sign that Putin’s opponents are once again emboldened to declare their opposition, mainly from outside Russia for obvious reasons.  

Putin has almost certainly seized Vladimir Evtushenkov’s oil company, OAO Bashneft, because he is strapped for cash following widespread sanctions, a war with Ukraine that will become more expensive in money and lives if the US contributes weapons to Poroshenko’s military, and especially because Brent oil has slumped since June. 

Russia’s stock market is a good barometer for the country’s wellbeing and it indicates that capital is leaving, as does the Ruble (shown inversely against the US Dollar).  Russia’s stock market will be an attractive long-term recovery candidate when Putin is driven out of office.  Governance is Everything.