Dmitry Shibayev, Reporter

Mikhail Khodorkovsky will be serving his sentence in the Chita Region, in the far away town of Krasnokamensk. The Kremlin, represented by the Federal Service for Sentence Execution, decided to enforce the sentence in this way. What is new about this? For those who have been paying more or less close attention to the long-lasting lawsuit against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, there is practically nothing new. It should be noted that, generally speaking, it makes no difference for the former head of Yukos where he should serve his sentence, except for the climatic conditions.

However, it does make a difference for his relatives and defence lawyers. And that is natural. Six hours by plane and ten hours by car along a bumpy road. It is impossible to fly there very often, not to speak of traveling by car. Thus it is his lawyers and relatives who will bear the maximum burden of the distance.

But have they isolated Khodorkovsky by hiding him so far away; [is he] out of sight out of mind?! Saratov, Chita, Vladivostok. Does it make things any different? Not much. To date, the most well-known Russian convict has shown everyone that he remains the same (with the same opinion and attitude) as he was in the Matrosskaya Tishina investigation ward. Books, press, ability to work still remain among Khodorkovsky's requests.

And the place [selected] to serve his sentence is not likely to change his attitude. The place has not caused him any fear. It is enough to mention his gallant birthday congratulations to Vladimir Putin published on October 7 in Kommersant, two days before he was transferred.

And it is clear, that, although it is still easy for anyone to send compliments to the president, it has become more problematic for Khodorkovsky's supporters to congratulate him. It is no longer the Matrosskaya Tishina, where you can rally easily and quickly. It is Chita and 600 km to the prison camp along bumpy roads after a long and expensive flight. No matter how much respect and solidarity a person could show the new political prisoner, his trip now is not just like going to the other end of Moscow. It takes time, money, and health. So everything was arranged on purpose.

They had not managed to isolate Mikhail Khodorkovsky up to now, so they decided to isolate his supporters. The Kremlin is well aware they do not get paid for organizing and participating in demonstrations; more likely, they spend their own money on making banners, posters, and on traveling. And while it used to be possible for a person to take part in the demonstrations in Moscow, the present geography dictates other terms. For instance, the cheapest ticket for a flight from Moscow to Chita costs 10,000 rubles, and that is only one way.

Of course, all this can hardly change Khodorkovsky's activities, and his supporters may continue to rally on Pushkin Square. Nevertheless, an attempt, and a quite successful one, to draw a subtle line between the former oligarch and his active supporters reflects the desire to make Khodorkovsky a figure of the past history, to leave him in the past together with the “group” of those activists who as before could not influence change, but only made noise. But now the shouting will be over. The officials are aware that the tension, which used to be in Moscow, would never occur in the Chita Region.

The distance is associated with a subtle, but quite visible psychological border. The temptation for active support has been destroyed, replaced by the opportunity to become ideologists of the “past”. Say, your Khodorkovsky has left and it is high time to let bygones be bygones. The Kremlin managed to implement this policy better than the prepaid show of Khodorkovsky’s opponents on Kalanchevsky Street and in front of the Moscow City Court. “His rights were not violated, nor are they being violated now,” the prosecutor Shokhin used to say in the days when an appeal was being considered. Thereafter, Khodorkovsky was sent to the uranium mines. “I have been convicted not by the court, but by a group of bureaucrats,” said Khodorkovsky, deprived of his company, at the Moscow City Court session. The Kremlin remains hooked to the oil needle.

There is nothing strange or terrible in the fact that Khodorkovsky has been sent to Chita. It is the long-cherished desire of those in power: to punish and forget. Therefore it is obvious that, if Mikhail Khodorkovsky is going to write a thesis while he is in prison, it will be an unnecessary and unpleasant business for the powers that be to have any interest in it. Science, of course, requires sacrifices. It seems, though, they cannot be sacrifices of this kind!