Photo: Reuters Return to the project "Lingua Franca" According to Alexander Lukashenko, before he came to power in 1994, Russians in Belarus were sitting on their suitcases, expecting every second that the nationalists would come and drive them out of the country. But when the current head of Belarus took the reins of power into his own hands, the situation immediately magically changed. “We are ready to share the last piece of bread with the Russian people,” Lukashenko vows.

Today Khodorkovsky is 50 years old. For me, this man played a very important role in my life. I only spoke with his parents a few times, but I understand well why he is the way he is. It’s hard for MBH now, but it’s harder for them... I wrote MBH a little congratulations. I don't know if he will read it. If he doesn’t read it, I’ll hand it over personally next fall. Despite everything, today I want to believe that this will happen. Dear Mikhail Borisovich! Happy Birthday to you!

It’s generally not very good when a person receives congratulations on his birthday through a video message, and it’s absolutely terrible when a person has not received any other congratulations for the past many years, except for congratulations through a video and in some such canned form. I sincerely hope that this is the last video congratulation that Mikhail Khodorkovsky receives in his life. For the rest of his long life, he will receive congratulations only in person.

No one in our country in modern times has been so tortured, no one has been bullied so cynically, mercilessly and for a long time as Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky. And no one since the legendary heroes and martyrs of the Soviet dissident resistance has behaved so steadfastly and so modestly. It is probably this combination that is called the word “nobility”. Formerly the richest man in the country, today he is a camp inmate with ten years of experience.

On the eve of the anniversary of the former head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who turns 50 today, Levada Center conducted a survey among 1.6 thousand residents of 130 settlements in 45 regions of the country. According to the survey results , 33% of Russians are in favor of the early release of Khodorkovsky. 16% of respondents are against his release, 52% found it difficult to answer.

Photo: Reuters/PublicPost Collage On June 26, Mikhail Khodorkovsky turns 50 years old. The ex-head of YUKOS will celebrate his anniversary in a Karelian colony; he will have a meeting with relatives. He spent almost 10 years behind bars. A few days earlier, Khodorkovsky admitted in an interview with The New Times that he would have shot himself if he had known what awaited him after his arrest in Novosibirsk in October 2003. “For me then, my current experience would have been a shock,” he said.