A high-profile Kremlin critic has an idea of how to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aggressive actions toward the United States and other western nations: target the people in his inner circle.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky wrote The Wall Street Journal opinion piece and made the case a relatively small group of Russians close to Putin — 100 people and several thousand of what Khodorkovsky called their "accomplices" — are responsible for Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and acts of aggression against European nations.
Khodorkovsky called this group a "mafia" and said most of them started out in Russia's criminal underworld. They have since banded together to commit crimes, sometimes violent, and launch attacks and disinformation campaigns against the west.
"Mr. Putin's cronies don't mind being known as ruthless and unconscionable brutes, so long as their critics pose no challenge to their interests," wrote Khodorkovsky, who served time in a Russian prison and now lives in Switzerland. "They don't rely on the law, so only power matters to them; they want to be feared in the international arena."
"On the other hand, these people are very sensitive to exposure — to having their activities become public knowledge — because they are used to hiding from society. They also place a high value on money and luxury; losing wealth and comfort is painful to them.
"This is a mafia, after all."
To stop this movement, Khodorkovsky said the key is to identify the members of its inner circle, figure out which politicians they have paid off, and sanction them.
"That is the recipe for success in the confrontation with one of the most dangerous mafia gangs of the century," he wrote.
Khodorkovsky is the founder of Open Russia, an organization that promotes positive reforms in Russian society.
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