Can Russian exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky replace Putin? Anti-Putin Russian forces are looking to Khodorkovsky to win, but the question is whether he can garner the same support at home.

American Thinker ^ | 03/07/2023 | Deborah Ephron

[SeekAndFind]

Most of the world is focused on the war in Ukraine, which has created political unrest in most western countries. Although it feels as though Russia is under a microscope, there is a lot of Russian politics that the media has not discussed. One of these things is that there are rivals to Putin, one of whom is Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The Munich Security Conference took place two weeks ago. Although Russian officials are usually invited, this year that changed.

Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, organizers decided to invite Russian politicians pushing to replace Putin. Those guests included multiple Russian exiles, including the ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov; Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of the slain Russian politician Boris Nemtsov; and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the lapsed oligarch who towers over the rest, primarily due to his being singled out as one of the potential new leaders of Russia should Putin fall.

Once Russia’s richest man and the head of the now-defunct oil giant Yukos, Khodorkovsky has become one of Russia’s biggest political whistleblowers. In 2003, he was arrested for alleged financial fraud after funding opposition leaders and independent media in Russia and spent a decade in prison before Putin finally pardoned him. (He was also formally accused of murdering the mayor of the city where Yuko, was headquartered, although that charge went nowhere.)

After Putin’s pardon saw him released from prison, Khodorkovsky initially vowed to stay out of politics. However, he has since publicly criticized Putin.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

[SeekAndFind]

A couple of years before the 2018 elections, when Vladimir Putin was once again voted in as the President of Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky launched the online project “Instead of Putin,” which received significant media coverage. However, he failed to attract a significant audience within Russia and, in the end, offered no real alternative to the ubiquitous image of a topless Russian president riding a horse.

When the site put up a list of potential candidates—a list that did not include Khodorkovsky—Alexei Navalny won. Putin then quickly barred him from running as a candidate. Navalny later ended up in prison after being found guilty of large-scale fraud (do you see the pattern here yet?). Some believe that Navalny’s challenge to Putin’s political power cost him his freedom.

[rottweiller_inc]

This is the United States introducing it’s puppet for the russian government

[DesertRhino]

At least it’s not an oligarch lol.

[McGruff]

He could or he could fall off a balcony.

[escapefromboston]

I don’t think any country would be happy with having their leader installed by foreigners

[flamberge]

Can Russian exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky replace Putin?

No.

This is just wishful thinking. And we should be careful what we wish for. Somebody will eventually replace Putin, due to natural mortality if nothing else. That somebody will be even more aggressive and nationalistic.

[katie didit]

So Brussels, London, and DC support a corrupt Russian thief to replace Putin. Who could’ve guessed the WEF bootlickers would want that?

Khodorkovsky will never be anything in Russia but the criminal that he is. Unless, of course, the West can mount a successful coup against Putin. (Good luck with that)

There’s a pattern all right Deborah...just not the one she thinks.

[PIF]

HAHAHA what make any one think Pootie will lose an election? HAHAHAHA

[SeekAndFind]

RE: So Brussels, London, and DC support a corrupt Russian thief to replace Putin.

So Brussels, London, and DC support a corrupt Russian thief to replace Putin. a sitting Russian thief and murderer.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: That somebody will be even more aggressive and nationalistic.

Or he might not.

[PGR88]

“American Thinker” is ass-clowning itself

The equivalent would be Russians holding a conference where they discuss whether Lyndon Larouche or My-Pillow Guy could be suitable leaders of the USA

[momincombatboots]

Boo for zelensky 2.0. The globalists must control Russian natural resources to give green. Maybe our lithium from Afghanistan is depleted.
This is was and will always be regime change. You didn’t think the globalists were going to pay market value and pay fair wages.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The globalists must control Russian natural resources to give green.

Now, only a few countries “control” Russian natural resources. How’s that working out? From Trade (AKA “control”) to nothing.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: The equivalent would be Russians holding a conference where they discuss whether Lyndon Larouche or My-Pillow Guy could be suitable leaders of the USA

The equivalent would be Russians holding a conference where they discuss whether Lyndon Larouche or My-Pillow Guy OR JOE BIDEN could be suitable leaders of the USA

[MalPearce]

Was Khordokovsky the oligarch who repented the big steal, spent his money on the Russian education system (without which it’d have completely missed the internet age), introduced his own businesses to Big 4 accounting to prove them respectable to western business partners, and then blew it by reminding Putin to his face on national TV that he originally got elected on an anti corruption ticket and maybe might want to start acting like it given that Russian business was still a total cesspit of crime syndicates as Nd mob bosses?

Or am I thinking of another Russian oligarch who turned over a new leaf and got imprisoned pretty much for the crime of embarrassing Putin?

[gleeaikin]

I don’t know if Putin could lose and election, but he is reported to currently be in Sochi having chemotherapy for his cancer. So maybe the big guy in the sky will vote him out of office. A name I had not seen before as a potential replacement is the current Prime Minister of Russia. He reportedly has stayed out of military arguments and focused on trying to keep economic problems from imploding. Seems to have been careful not to ruffle feathers. Might be an interim ruler for a few months, if Putin is sidelined, while the big boys fight out the succession.

[CatHerd]

Yeah, about like Khalifa Hifter (whom the media began to transliterate as “Haftar” after Libyans called him Hitler), our CIA asset back when, expected by the same bunch now in power (Nuland, Sullivan, Biden, et al) to end up as some Big Leader in Libya back in the day. He failed spectacularly and now they are punishing him for his failure:

https://apnews.com/hub/khalifa-hifter

Maybe Khodorkovsky should consult with Hifter/Haftar — or just look at what happened with him.

[Cronos]

I think we need to just wait and watch. There is no indication of how true this information it - we’ll only know after Putin is dead, and much after he is dead.

[caww]

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is the US lapdog......formerly the richest person in Russia,...oil tycoon over Russia’s once largest privately owned oil company before a falling out with Vladimir Putin he brought on himself. ....he also stole from the Russian people and would still be milking the system if he hadn’t fled for his life.

[Kazan]

There is absolutely NO chance of Putin being replaced. It's a neocon fantasy that is less realistic than an uprising here resulting in Biden being removed from office. The latter is actually much more likely.

Putin's most recent approval ratings are more than 80%. Most Russians view the war in Ukraine as a fight against NATO for Russian survival.