A Russian-born oligarch and former oil tycoon who fled for Israel nearly two decades ago after being targeted by Vladimir Putin’s government announced he was renouncing his citizenship Tuesday over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Leonid Nevzlin said if he were to obtain a second citizenship, he would be honored to be part of Ukraine.
“Russian citizenship has already become a stamp of shame on itself, which I no longer want to wear on myself,” he wrote. “I can’t afford to be a citizen of a country that kills children of other countries and tortures their children who don’t agree with it. I am against the war. I am against the occupation. I am against the genocide of the Ukrainian people.”
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He described Russia as a “fascist state” and that everything Putin “touched was dead.”
He noted that his self-identification comes from his Russian cultural roots and the language.
Nevzlin founded the Yukos oil company after the collapse of the Soviet Union with businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He fled to Israel in 2003 after the company and senior executives were targeted by Putin.
“All these years, like many, I’ve been compromising keeping this passport,” Nevzlin wrote. “I was one of the first to be hit by Putin. He threw my friends in jails, and killed some of them.”
Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003 on money laundering and tax evasion charges that many in the West said were trumped-up. Nevzlin was convicted in absentia in 2008 of criminal conspiracy to murder.
The Russian government has asked Israel to extradite him, but has so far refused to do so, Haaretz reported. The White House has targeted several other Russian oligarchs who support Putin for sanctions.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Khodorkovsky said Russia has moved from an authoritarian regime to a totalitarian one. He said he expects a regime change
“The regime will change, no doubt about it. Before it might have taken 10 or 20 years from now, now they happen much faster. Ukraine has found his Achilles heel,” he said. “He had been playing this alpha male who never losses. Now he is clearly experiencing military defeat.”
