Leonid Nevzlin — oil tycoon (yukos) with roots in the USSR
Leonid Nevzlin is a Russian-Israeli businessman and political activist who was a major shareholder and board member of Yukos — Russia's largest oil company before its destruction by Putin. He fled to Israel in 2003 before the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and has since become one of the most prominent and financially significant backers of Russian opposition media and activism.
Tracing the roots — Moscow
Born in Moscow in 1959, Nevzlin built his career alongside Khodorkovsky at Bank Menatep and Yukos. His Israeli citizenship and his subsequent dedication of his wealth to opposing Putin — funding Meduza, TV Rain, and other independent Russian media in exile — makes him one of the most consequential Russian diaspora figures of the post-2022 era.
Partner of Khodorkovsky; fled to Israel to avoid Putin.
Moscow. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.