• Mikhail Khodorkovsky
  • Platon Lebedev

"I’m for a strong state in Russia... I’m for an active industrial policy, a social state." Mikhail Khodorkovsky
1 Oct 2008

Khodorkovsky is known to the world for his commitment to transparency and corporate governance in business as well as his contributions to the development of civil society in Russia. He is Russia's most famous political prisoner.

Learn more about Mikhail Khodorkovsky

"I believe in Russia's future, and this also includes Russia's judicial system. I try to help the judicial system to become qualified, independent and impartial... We have an opportunity to set things right so that no one will ever feel ashamed of our country." Platon Lebedev
5 Oct 2007

Platon Lebedev, was Director of Group MENATEP Limited, the holding company for YUKOS. Trained as an industrial economist, Lebedev pioneered modern business practices.

Learn more about Platon Lebedev

News & Recent Developments

  • Ex-Yukos Lawyer, Newborn Child Greet New Year in Prison Hospital

    31 Dec 2008 | RIA Novosti

    "Svetlana Bakhmina will meet New Year with her month-old daughter in a prison hospital. Her lawyer, Roman Golovkin said: "Svetlana Bakhmina and her daughter will celebrate New Year in the same hospital they have been to until now," adding that their health condition was satisfactory."

  • Moscow Court Finds Ex-Yukos Official Guilty of Embezzlement

    25 Dec 2008 | RIA Novosti

    "A Moscow court has found Alexei Kurtsin, a former manager of Yukos, guilty of abuse of office and embezzling $2.6 million.

    The prosecution has asked for a sentence of 16 years in prison for Kurtsin, and a fine of $17,500."

  • Russian Opposition Leader's Supporters Get Suspended Sentences for Forgery

    24 Dec 2008 | Ekho Moskvy

    "A court in Chita has passed a guilty verdict against defendants accused of forging signatures collected in support of Mikhail Kasyanov's nomination as a Russian presidential candidate. The organiser of the group, Marina Savateyeva, who is a deputy head of the committee in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, received an 18-month suspended sentence with a year-long probation period."

  • Europe Feels Heat from Gas Stand-Off

    04 Jan 2009 | The Financial Times

    "Russia and Ukraine have traded insults as a gas stand-off between the two countries entered a fifth day, causing gas shortages to ripple west into Europe.

    Poland reported an 11 per cent drop in Russian gas deliveries through Ukraine on Sunday and appeared to be the worst-hit by the dispute. The Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are also affected."

  • Russia-Ukraine Spat Threatens Europe's Gas Supply

    23 Dec 2008 | The Daily Telegraph

    "Gazprom has warned that the supply of gas across Europe could be disrupted because of a dispute over debts with Ukraine. Gazprom claims it is owed around $2 billion by Ukraine for gas supplies and said it will cut off supply to the country unless the situation is resolved by January 1."

  • Russia Approves Presidency Bill

    22 Dec 2008 | BBC News

    "A bill to extend the presidential term from four to six years has been backed by Russia's upper house of parliament after regional assemblies endorsed it.The amendment will become law once it is signed by President Dmitry Medvedev but will only take effect after the next presidential election."

  • Mercy of the State

    03 Jan 2009 | Newsweek

    "In an interview with Yury Schmidt, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyer, he said that he does not believe Dmitry Medvedev taking Khodorkovsky's case differently to Vladimir Putin.

    Schmidt said: "It was not Medvedev who put Khodorkovsky in jail, it was not he who destroyed Yukos-that was done on Putin's direct order, or at least with Putin's personal approval. Either Medvedev has no power to remove the curse, and stop obvious human-rights violations, or he does not care."

  • Gazprom, Once Mighty, Is Reeling

    30 Dec 2008 | The New York Times

    "A year ago, Gazprom aspired to be the largest corporation in the world. Today, Gazprom is deep in debt. That Russia's largest state-run energy company needs a bailout so soon after oil hit record highs last summer is a telling postscript to a turbulent period. Once the emblem of the pride and the menace of a resurgent Russia, Gazprom has become a symbol of this oil state's rapid economic decline."

  • Crisis Puts Putinomics to the Test

    24 Dec 2008 | The Moscow Times

    "Suddenly, Russia stands out as one of the countries likely to be worst hit by the international financial crisis, although it entered the crisis with huge budget and current accounts surpluses since 2000 and the third-largest currency reserves in the world.

    It would be unfair to blame only international markets, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does, considering how flawed his own economic policy is. Apart from Russia's excellent fiscal policy, just about everything has been wrong with the country's economic policy since authorities arrested former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky in October 2003. Shortly after this, Yukos was confiscated."

  • Human Rights Community Briefing

    28 Oct 2008 | International League for Human Rights Dinner

    Lawyers for Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev were in New York in October, 2008 speaking to the human rights community at a briefing and dinner hosted by the International League for Human Rights.

  • Mikhail Khodorkovsky: Russia's Political Prisoner

    01 Feb 2008 | Video

    Watch a brief video about the unjust trial, imprisonment and human rights violations of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. 

  • Statement in Response to New Charges

    22 Oct 2008 | Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Chita, Russia

    Khodorkovsky asks the “investigative group not to humiliate itself and the country with knowingly absurd assertions.”

  • Plea for Parole

    21 Aug 2008 | Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Chita, Russia

    “I am submitting this parole application to you because I believe that the positive decision on this issue will be just and lawful in all respects: for the society, for which I can do much more good if I am free than if I am in jail, for my family, and for myself.”

  • Statement in Response to Treatment of Vasiliy Aleksanyan

    31 Jan 2008 | Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Chita, Russia

    “[Russian authorities] are killing [Aleksanyan] in prison because he, as a courageous and honest man, refuses to lie and slander.”


About the Center

The Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center Web site was developed by the international legal team of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to tell the story of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to raise awareness of their status in Russia as political prisoners.

Learn more »

What Others are Saying

“The conduct of the cases against Khodorkovskiy and his associates has eroded Russia's reputation and public confidence in Russian legal and judicial institutions.” Robert Wood, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman

The Bigger Picture

Events in Russia have always been important to the United States and the European Union, and it is clear that the relationship between these nations is strained. Learn more »

“The Kremlin runs the risk of destroying its petroleum sector rather than building an envied national champion.” J Robinson West, Financial Times

The Bigger Picture

Investors and businesses interpreted the attack on YUKOS and arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003 to be an attack on property rights, inflicting billions of dollars of damage to the Russian economy. Learn more »

“I think that any person becomes a political prisoner if the law is applied to him selectively, and this is an absolutely clear case to me. This is a glaringly lawless action.” Elena Bonner, The Andrei Sakharov Foundation

The Bigger Picture

Khodorkovsky was a well-known critic of corruption in government. His politically motivated arrest was a severe setback for the development of civil society in Russia. Learn more »