Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oligarch and once considered the country’s richest man, is now in exile. Prigozhin and his men from the Wagner group claim to have closely watched Vladimir Putin’s movements during the rebellion.
Through his contacts, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Putin took a flight from Moscow to his residence in Voldai, far from the capital, between the Russian regions of Tver and Novgorod. “At that time we were looking at Putin. It seems that he really left Moscow and went to his residence in Valdai,” Khodorkovsky said. Newsweek From London, where he has lived since leaving Russia.
The apparent inaction of the Russian president as the uprising erupted has fueled many rumors about his absence from the capital and possible escape. Information provided by Khodorkovsky’s contact, including flight tracking data, tends to confirm these rumours.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was a former executive in the Russian oil industry and specifically the head of the energy company Yukos, but has since spent years behind bars. He repeatedly criticized Russian power and was one of the first supporters of democratic transition in Russia. Although he was pardoned by the president in 2013, he remains a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin.
Newsweek has checked flight data from Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane and confirmed that the plane took off from Moscow while the Wagner Group’s rebellion was underway.
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