A top foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who spent a decade behind bars told thousands on Kiev's main protest square today that the Kremlin colluded with Ukraine's ousted regime in violence claiming 100 lives.
Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky received a rousing reception on Independence Square -- the crucible of three months of protests that ousted a pro-Russian regime from power last month -- as he walked out on stage dressed in a black parka and his hair still styled in a prison crew cut.
"I was told what the authorities did here. They did this with the agreement of the Russian leadership," Khodorkovsky said in an emotional address delivered under a clear blue sky and televised live by several Ukrainian national television stations.
"I wanted to cry. It is terrifying. This is not my leadership," he said to chants of "Shame!' from the crowd.
The 50-year-old founder of the former Yukos oil empire -- its main holdings now in possession of the state -- was released from jail in December under an amnesty Putin signed in what was widely seen as an effort to ease criticism of his rights record ahead of February's Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest man and an influential politician with presidential ambitions who openly opposed Putin when the former KGB spy first entered the Kremlin in 2000.
